The
national press has picked up several reports in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser
about the plight of Karen Okada. Karen is a 95-year-old woman who signed
a “Death with Dignity Declaration” and a “Durable Power of Attorney for Health
Care Instructions” back in 1998. Both documents purport to control “in
all circumstances.”
The
Queen’s Medical Center, where Karen was hospitalized for pneumonia, determined
that Karen was essentially brain dead, or, in any event, had “permanently” lost
the ability to participate in medical treatment decisions, and that the
provisions of her Death with Dignity Declaration required that her feeding tube
be withdrawn.
On
the other hand, Karen’s health-care agent, in consultation with doctors who are
not associated with Queen’s, disagreed with the conclusions reached by the
Queen’s physicians. What the agent knew, and the Queen’s physicians
discounted, was that just before she was hospitalized at Queen’s, Karen was conscious
and able to interact meaningfully with her family and caregivers. During
the time she was at Queen’s, on the other hand, Karen was for the most part unresponsive
when doctors examined her, but her family reported that she smiled at least
twice at her adult grandchildren and nodded to her grandson in response to his
question of whether she was able to breathe freely.
The
policy of Queen’s was to give precedence to an advance health-care directive
over a durable power of attorney in all events, and without inquiring into why
a person may have signed apparently contradictory documents. Accordingly,
Queen’s took the unusual step of suing Karen’s health-care agent in order to
get a court order forcing him to direct Karen’s physicians to remove her feeding
tube.
Of
course, no one would want to be part of this kind of drama. So what can you do to make your wishes
clearly known so there will be no questions about how to carry them out?
- If you do not have an
advance-health care directive in place, get one. Make sure your
loved ones—including your children over the age of 18—have advance
health-care directives too. - Learn all you can about the
options that can be written into your advance health-care directive.
These are not “one size fits all” documents. Your wishes may differ
greatly from those of your friends and family members, and the document
you sign should express your particular desires. - If you have an advance
health-care directive that is more than 5 years old, there is a good
chance that it will not accomplish what you think it will. Review it
right away with your legal counsel. Make any appropriate changes and
updates. - If you want to give a trusted
family member or friend the power to make health-care decisions for you,
make sure the power of attorney meshes well with any other instructions
you may want to provide. - Be sure to give your
health-care providers your permission to give your medical information to
your family members or other trusted decision makers. Federal and
State privacy laws can restrict your doctor from talking with your
health-care agent unless you specifically grant that permission. - Review your advance health-care
directive periodically to make sure it accurately states your current
wishes. Once per year is not too often. - Make sure you have a mechanism
in place for giving you access to your advance health-care directive, no
matter when or where an emergency might occur. Not all health
problems happen in the home, and if you have a crisis situation while you
are travelling, you will need a way to make your health-care documents accessible
to your caregivers. - Talk with your family about
your wishes BEFORE a crisis arises. Make sure everybody is on the
same page. If your chosen decision makers indicate hesitation about
carrying out your wishes, think about naming someone who will. Your
assurance to your loved ones of how seriously you intend your instructions
to be taken will give them the courage to carry them out.
Knowledge
is power. The more you know about advance health-care directives, and the
sooner you act on that knowledge, the more likely it will be that your wishes
will be carried out.
In
case you were curious about what happened to Karen, her family was successful
in gaining her release from Queen’s and placing her in a care home. Since then, Karen has gained 20 pounds and has
regained her ability to interact meaningfully with her family.