The Right of Elderly Patients to Refuse Life-Sustaining Treatment

Some legislation, such as law permitting living wills, has addressed the problem of decisions regarding life-sustaining treatment for the elderly. Most of the developing law on the subject is, however, being made by the courts, often in prospective decisions about treatment. These rulings have followed a variety of approaches to the ends of protecting incompetent patients and enforcing the right of the competent to make their own decisions.

Author(s): George J. Annas; Leonard H. Glantz

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Volume 64, Issue S2 (pages 95–162)
Published in 1986