Contemporary Importance of Health Care Proxies
Health care proxies have become increasingly important today due to conflicts among relatives of the primary individual. The Terri Schiavo case is a famous modern-day example. Doctors tried to treat Schiavo for more than ten years and concluded that she was in a persistent vegetative state. Her husband, who stood to benefit financially from not having to divorce Schiavo and who wanted to re-marry, elected to have her feeding tube removed, but her parents objected. This resulted in a lengthy court battle that raised many political, moral, and medical issues. The whole controversy might have been avoided if Schiavo had assigned either her parents or her husband as her health care proxy. As a result, some commentators have argued that health care proxies should be made mandatory.
Read more about this topic: Health Care Proxy
Famous quotes containing the words contemporary, importance, health and/or care:
“A sort of war of revenge on the intellect is what, for some reason, thrives in the contemporary social atmosphere.”
—Wyndham Lewis (1882–1957)
“A man’s personal defects will commonly have with the rest of the world precisely that importance which they have to himself. If he makes light of them, so will other men.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“I still need more healthy rest in order to work at my best. My health is the main capital I have and I want to administer it intelligently.”
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961)
“The return of my birthday, if I remember it, fills me with thoughts which it seems to be the general care of humanity to escape.”
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)