Medical Jurisprudence Commons^™

The Growing Importance Of Advance Medical Directives In The Military, Thaddeus A. Hoffmeister

School of Law Faculty Publications

While the litigation in the Terri Schiavo case is an extreme example of what can go wrong in the health care decision-making process, it highlights the importance of advance medical directives (AMD) in helping to ensure patient autonomy during end-of-life medical treatment. Unfortunately, large segments of society, to include the military, are still unclear about the role of AMDs in patient care. Thus, this article provides a broad overview of AMDs and their legal applications with a particular emphasis on expanding their use in the military community. This article begins with a discussion of living wills and durable powers of …