Click on link below to view an answer
to your question:
* What is a living will?
* What happens if I don't have any health care documents? Who will make health care decisions for me?
* Who should I choose as a health care proxy?
* What if I don't know anyone I really trust to supervise my medical care?
* What types of medical care should I consider when completing my health care documents?
* Can I say whether I want pain medication, or food and water?
* Where can I get a health care directive?
* When does my health care directive take effect?
* How can I be sure my health care documents are legal?
* Where should I keep my health care documents once they have been signed?
FAQ's:
What is a living will?
ANSWER: A living will is a document that
gives you control over whether your life will be prolonged
by certain medical procedures should you be unable to make
those decisions yourself. It allows you to designate whether
or not you wish to be kept alive by the use of extraordinary
means in the event that you are diagnosed as terminally
ill or you are in a permanent coma.
What happens if I don't have any health care
documents? Who will make health care decisions for me?
ANSWER: If the patient is comatose and
there is no reasonable possibility that he will return to
a cognitive state or is mentally incapacitated and 1) it
is determined by the attending physician that the person?s
present condition is terminal and incurable or diagnosed
as a persistent vegetative state; and 2) there is confirmation
of the person?s present condition in writing by a physician
other than the attending physician; and 3) a vital function
of the person could be restored by extraordinary means or
a vital function of the person is being sustained by extraordinary
means; or the life of the person could be or is being sustained
by artificial nutrition or hydration, then extraordinary
means or artificial nutrition/hydration may be withheld
or discontinued upon the direction and under the supervision
of the attending physician with the concurrence of (i) a
health care agent appointed pursuant to a health care power
of attorney, (ii) a guardian of the person, (iii) the person?s
spouse, or (iv) a majority of the relatives to the first
degree, in that order. If none of these people are available
to make the decision, North Carolina law allows the withholding
or discontinuing of extraordinary means or artificial nutrition/hydration
at the discretion of the attending physician.
Who should I choose as a health care proxy?
ANSWER: You may choose anyone whom you
trust to make decisions regarding your health, if you are
unable to make them yourself. However, the person you choose
must be at least 18 years old and can not be engaged in
providing health care to you in exchange for money.
What if I don't know anyone I really trust to
supervise my medical care?
ANSWER: If you do not appoint someone to
make medical decisions for you, then decisions regarding
your health care treatment will be made by certain persons,
in the following order of priority: (1) your guardian, (2)
your spouse, (3) a majority of your relatives to the first
degree and (4) your attending physician. The alternative
is to name a health care proxy with limited powers in a
health care directive. By limiting the proxy?s authority,
you can ensure he/she only has authority regarding certain
types of health care decisions and not those involving life
and death.
What types of medical care should I consider
when completing my health care documents?
ANSWER: You should consider what you would
wish to happen if you were ever diagnosed with a terminal
or incurable disease, or were to become a victim to a persistent
vegetative state. Consider whether you would want extraordinary
means and/or artificial nutrition and hydration to keep
you alive under any of those circumstances. Extraordinary
means is defined as any medical procedure or intervention,
which in the judgment of the attending physician, would
serve only to postpone artificially the moment of death
by sustaining, restoring, or supplanting a vital function.
Your health care directive can also specify your wishes
regarding possible mental health care treatment.
Can I say whether I want pain medication, or
food and water?
ANSWER: You can give full power and authority
to a health care agent to make decisions for you, which
you could make yourself if you had the capacity to make
and communicate health care decisions. Authority can involve
decisions regarding anatomical rights, autopsies and disposition
of remains. The authority granted to the health care agent
may contain whichever restrictions the principal deems appropriate.
Therefore, a health care proxy may instruct the physicians
on whether you would like artificial food and water as well
as pain medication, because if you were able to communicate
yourself, you could ask the physicians to withhold any of
those items from your treatment.
Where can I get a health care directive?
ANSWER: Chapter 90, Section 321 of the
North Carolina General Statutes provides a sample health
care directive, which can be copied and used by anyone in
the state of North Carolina. As long as the document is
signed, proved, witnessed and dated, any doctor in the state
of North Carolina can rely upon it, unless the patient revokes
it during the time he is undergoing care.
You may also draft your own health care directive. As long
as it substantially complies with the example set forth
in the statutes and the requirements therein, doctors in
this state will honor it. Should you move out of state,
after drafting a personal health care directive, please
make certain that your directive complies with the requirements
set forth by that state, as they may be different from those
of North Carolina.
When does my health care directive take effect??
ANSWER: A health care directive becomes
effective when and if the physician or physicians determine
in writing that the declarant lacks sufficient understanding
or capacity to make or communicate decisions relating to
the health care of the declarant and continues in effect
during the incapacity of the principal.
How can I be sure my health care documents are
legal?
ANSWER: In North Carolina, health care
documents must be signed by their maker and certified by
a notary public. In addition, at least two witnesses are
needed for some health care documents. These witnesses generally
must neither be related to the person making the document
nor be the attending physician or an employee of the attending
physician of the signor.
Where should I keep my health care documents
once they have been signed?
ANSWER: The Secretary of State's office
maintains an Advance Health Care Directive Registry, where
doctors may search for and obtain your personal care directive
in the event it is needed. Therefore, you should file a
copy with the Secretary of State's office. In the event
it is not filed with the Secretary of State's registry,
it should be kept in a safe place with other important papers,
like a fire safe box kept in your home or a safety deposit
box. You might also wish to keep a copy on file with your
attorney.
