Advance Directives and the Pursuit of Death with Dignity / Edition 1

by Norman L. Cantor

Overview

"[Cantor provides] both a cogent and provocative text and prodigious references." —The New England Journal of Medicine

"Cantor develops a careful and accessible ethic of autonomy and dignity regarding forgoing life-prolonging medical treatment . . . " —Ethics

"A thoughtful, informative and sensitive text . . . " —European Medical Journal

"Professor Cantor of Rutgers University School of Law has created a scholarly and sophisticated, yet quite accessible, legal analysis of the subject of advance directives . . . detailed, exhaustively referenced . . . " —The Florida Bar Journal

"This book is an excellent resource for anyone interested in learning about advance directives for health care." —Doody's Health Sciences Book Review Journal

"Cantor provides a very thorough, reliable, and readable guide . . . " —Robert M. Veatch, Director, Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University

Cantor examines the medical, legal, and moral issues surrounding advance medical directives—those devices aimed at controlling medical intervention during the dying process after the patient is no longer competent.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780253313041
Publisher:	Indiana University Press
Publication date:	10/22/1993
Series:	Medical Ethics
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

NORMAN L. CANTOR is Professor of Law and Justice Nathan L. Jacobs Scholar at Rutgers University School of Law, Newark, and is also a member of the Faculty of Law at Tel Aviv University. He served as an advisor to counsel in the Karen Ann Quinlan case and as advisor to the New Jersey Bioethics Committee. He is author of Legal Frontiers of Death and Dying and numerous law journal articles covering legal aspects of death and dying.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION: ON RESTRAINING LIFE-PRESERVING MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY

1. The Bounds of Autonomy for Competent Medical Patients
2. Advance Directives and Problems of Prospective Autonomy
3. Choosing the Best Format in Light of the Statutory Framework for Advance Directives
4. Drafting Advance Instructions
5. Interpretation and Administration of Advance Directives
6. The Moral Boundaries of Shaping Post-Competence Medical Care
7. Enforcing Advance Directives
8. New Jersey's Model Legislation

Appendix A: Advance Directive for Health Care
Appendix B: Form Health-Care Power of Attorney
Appendix C: The New Jersey Bioethics Commission's Combined Advance Directive for Health Care (Combined Proxy and Instruction Directive)
Appendix D: A Values Profile

Notes
Index

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Patricia A. Marshall, PhD (Loyola University Medical Center)
Description: This book provides a guide to the development and implementation of advance directives for health care. Considerable attention is given to legal issues.
Purpose: The author aims to explore the historical and moral foundations, legal framework, format, content, administration, and enforcement of advance directives for health care. The book provides basic information on the types of advance directives available and their strengths and weaknesses and offers suggestions for choosing among them.
Audience: The intended audience includes physicians, nurses, hospital social workers, clergy, health care administrators, and others concerned about executing advance directives for controlling medical interventions when patients are no longer competent. It is a practical and readable guide. These features should make it accessible to a wide-ranging audience, including health professionals and the general public.
Features: Four appendixes contain forms for advance directives, including the Advance Directive for Health Care, Health Care Power of Attorney, the New Jersey's Commission's Combined Advance Directive for Health Care, and the Values Profile. Comprehensive and thorough notes and references for each chapter are contained at the end of the book. The references are up-to-date. Citations for legal cases are extensive. The index is easy to use and inclusive.
Assessment: This book is an excellent resource for anyone interested in learning about advance directives for health care. The legal background of the author is reflected in the book's emphasis on the contractual nature of the patient-physician relationship and litigation related to advance directives. Thus, the author's treatment of broader moral and social issues surrounding advance directives tends to be constrained by legalistic parameters.

Doody's Review Service

3 Stars from Doody

This book provides a guide to the development and implementation of advance directives for health care. Considerable attention is given to legal issues. The author aims to explore the historical and moral foundations, legal framework, format, content, administration, and enforcement of advance directives for health care. The book provides basic information on the types of advance directives available and their strengths and weaknesses and offers suggestions for choosing among them. The intended audience includes physicians, nurses, hospital social workers, clergy, health care administrators, and others concerned about executing advance directives for controlling medical interventions when patients are no longer competent. It is a practical and readable guide. These features should make it accessible to a wide-ranging audience, including health professionals and the general public. Four appendixes contain forms for advance directives, including the Advance Directive for Health Care, Health Care Power of Attorney, the New Jersey's Commission's Combined Advance Directive for Health Care, and the Values Profile. Comprehensive and thorough notes and references for each chapter are contained at the end of the book. The references are up-to-date. Citations for legal cases are extensive. The index is easy to use and inclusive. This book is an excellent resource for anyone interested in learning about advance directives for health care. The legal background of the author is reflected in the book's emphasis on the contractual nature of the patient-physician relationship and litigation related to advance directives. Thus, the author's treatment of broader moral and social issues surrounding advancedirectives tends to be constrained by legalistic parameters.

Patricia A. Marshall