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Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Ind. Law - Questions prevail during session on living wills

The Louisville Courier Journal's Lesley Stedman Weidenbener reports on yesterday's meeting of the legislature's Probate Code Study Commission. Some quotes:

[Sen. Joe Zakas, R-Granger]said members believe it's time for a review, especially in the wake of the case of Terri Schiavo, a disabled Florida woman who died this year after her husband won a long legal battle to have her feeding tube removed. "It's worthwhile that we take a look at our existing law," Zakas said.

A thorough debate won't take place until the commission's Oct. 6 meeting. But the group started the discussion yesterday by raising a number of questions about living wills, which allow people to direct doctors to either provide or withhold nutrition and hydration in cases involving terminal illness. Among them:

Could a living will be used to direct care if a patient is in a persistent vegetative state, a condition in which the brain has lost significant neurological function?

What takes precedence -- the instructions in a living will signed by a patient or direction from a health-care representative who has been appointed in writing by the patient?

Is a living will needed at all if a patient has appointed a health-care representative?

The commission -- a group that includes lawmakers and lawyers -- didn't get to the answers of those questions yesterday, although members had some initial discussion. * * *

Jeff Kobb, an attorney representing the probate section of the Indiana Bar Association, said most lawyers prefer the appointment of a health-care representative to a living will. And he said the representative should trump the will.

"Life-saving techniques may change, and a patient may want some and not others. A living will always has been and always will be very limited," Kobb said. "It's best to go with a flexible document where you pick someone you know to make decisions for you."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 31, 2005 08:07 AM
Posted to Indiana Law