Publications
Q: Dear Carl, in your last article, you discussed the importance and reasons for having a Family Will. Are there any other documents I should have besides a will?
A: The most common additional documents are the Ohio Living Will and the Ohio Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care.
Q: What is a Living Will?
A: A Living Will is a document that states that you have chosen that your dying shall not be artificially prolonged in the event you have a terminal illness and you are unable to give directions regarding the use of life-sustaining treatment. A Living Will would generally ban the use of life support equipment when you are permanently unconscious in a terminal condition. The Ohio Living Will was created by Ohio Revised Code Chapter 2133. Your Living Will requests that your intention to refuse artificial life support, medical or surgical treatment shall be honored by your family and physicians near the end of your life.
This is your final written request to be permitted to die naturally, receiving only the care necessary to make you comfortable and to relieve your pain but not to postpone your death artificially. A Living Will must be signed by you and witnessed by two witnesses or a Notary Public. The U.S. Supreme Court and the Ohio Supreme Court have held that Living Wills are valid, that you have the legal right to reject lifesaving treatment if you are in an unconscious terminal condition.
Q: Do physicians and hospitals generally abide by your wishes to reject lifesaving treatment?
A: Generally the Medical profession should honor your wishes set forth in a Living Will. However, if the medical professional wishes to disregard your Living Will, there is nothing you and your family can do if the medical profession violates your statutory rights. In a 1996 Ohio Supreme Court Case involving Edward Winter, the court ruled that the dying person and his family have no legal right to be awarded any compensation against the treating doctors and the hospital if they choose to simply ignore your right to die naturally by keeping you on artificial life support. Once the right to sue for damages was eliminated, the medical profession could avoid all consequences for prolonging the life of a terminally ill unconscious patient.
If you think the elimination of the right to sue the medical profession for refusing to abide by your Living Will is of little consequence, consider the staggering size of the enormous medical bills incurred by the surviving family cased by the prolonged use of artificial life support equipment involving many expensive medical specialists. Consider further the prolonged family grief by this artificial interference with the dying process in a hopeless medical situation. My best advice is to have a Living Will and to discuss you wishes with you family physician in the presence of some family member witnesses.