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
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