Massachusetts Medical Society: Question 4

Question 4

 

Question:

 

A 50-year-old woman sustains a traumatic brain injury. She is subsequently in a permanent vegetative state. The patient has no advance directive. Her daughter, the patient's only family, argues to withdraw life-support on the grounds that her mother told her she would never want to live attached to machines. The physician should…

 

 

 

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Answer:

require that the daughter provide written proof that her mother would want care withdrawn.
 

 

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Answer:

continue life-support on the grounds that withdrawal would constitute murder.
 

 

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withdraw life-support on the basis of the daughter's assessment of what her mother would want done.
 

 

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contact the legal department to seek guardianship for the patient.
 

 

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