Handbook
• HEALTH CARE PROXY
Your Health Care Proxy allows you to name an individual that can make health
care decisions for you when you are unable to do so yourself. If desired, you can
provide directions for this individual to follow. If so, you could direct that all life-
prolonging procedures and treatments be provided. Alternatively, you could also
direct that there should be no unnatural life-prolonging procedures or treatments.
There is a wide range of directions that you can provide and the choice is yours.
Your Health Care Proxy allows you, if you desire, to make an anatomical gift. If so,
you can limit this gift to certain organs and tissues, or you can limit it to certain
purposes (e.g., for transplant purposes in order to save a life and/or for medical
research).
To summarize, your Health Care Proxy allows you to “speak” to your own health
care decisions through your representative and through any directions that you
have provided.
John and Mary didn't both die right away. Although Mary died at the moment of
impact, John sustained serious injuries and was in a coma for almost a year
before he too passed away. John would have died sooner but he was kept alive
with an artificial breathing apparatus and he was artificially provided food and
water. Even though the Doctors already knew there was no hope for recovery,
John’s family paid for the best medical treatment that they could afford to keep
John alive.
But that’s not what John wanted. John always knew for certain that if he was ever
in a situation where there was no hope for recovery, that he would rather die than
to be kept alive by being hooked up to all types of tubes and machines. He would
rather spare himself and his family from that type of unnecessary and prolonged
pain and suffering.
When John was alive, he had even talked to Mary and some of his close friends
about these wishes. However, when the time came, John had no Health Care
Proxy. He hadn’t named someone to make these tough decisions for him and he
hadn’t provided instructions as to his health care wishes.
Although John’s parents were distraught during the whole time period, they were
also forced to undertake the additional burden of making John’s life and death
health care decisions. John’s parents did the best they could. Unfortunately, the
health care decisions they made were almost the exact opposite of what John
would have wanted.
