Write guide to your end-of-life care – medical expert
[ UniNews Vol. 15, No. 14
7 - 21 August 2006 ]
More Australians should document the level of care they wish to receive in certain medical circumstances, to assist health care providers and help limit disputes over end-of-life decisions, according to a University of Melbourne medical expert.
Professor Graham Brown (Medicine – RMH, Western) says there are many issues surrounding Advanced Care Directives (ACDs) that remain a ‘grey area,’ but that advanced care planning is something all Australians should look at carefully.
“As a doctor it can be difficult to know how to proceed with end-of-life decisions when there are no directives from an individual, and disputes among family members can also eventuate – as we saw in the Maria Korp case in Melbourne, and the Terry Schiavo case in the USA.
“Previously patients and carers had trust in doctors to act in their best interests without written directives, but now there are concerns about litigation without that written declaration.”
Professor Brown recently brought together a range of experts to debate ACDs as part of the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences Dean’s Lecture Series.
The experts, among them doctors, GPs, nurses, ethicists, theologians and the Public Advocate, analysed issues surrounding ACDs.
Professor Brown also presented a series of hypothetical situations to test responses from the experts.
“There are situations when ACDs don’t provide all the information doctors and nurses need to make end-of-life decisions, so what do medical professionals do then?” he asks.
“We need mechanisms to deal with this, and we also need to consider the legal status of ACDs – whether it would help if they had the status of legally binding wills.”
Professor Brown noted the ethical concerns of people who consider ACDs as a ‘slippery slope’ towards euthanasia.
“Protecting what people want is important, but it’s also crucial to ensure ACDs are not used with ulterior motives,” he says.
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