An advance directive is a legally binding document regulated by state laws. Advance directives are subject to The Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA), 1990, a federal law that encourages individuals ...

Columns share an author’s personal perspective. Life is a terminal condition; everyone who lives eventually dies. So medicine’s role is not just to treat and possibly cure diseases, but to improve the ...

States generally allow a person (principal) to appoint another person (agent) to make health care decisions, receive protected health information, or both on the principal’s behalf. In many states, ...

Did you forget to do the most important thing for your advance directive? Dr. Anna Beck from Huntsman Cancer Institute tells you what an advance directive actually is, and the most important thing to ...

An advance directive for the state where you live may not be effective in another state. Some states have provisions that respect out-of-state directives as long as they conform to the requirements of ...

The article by Drs-Blackmer and Ross on ‘Awareness and use of Advance Directives in the Spinal Cord Injured Population’ (Spinal Cord 2002; 40: 581–594) highlights the importance of health-care advance ...

Christy Bieber has a JD from UCLA School of Law and began her career as a college instructor and textbook author. She has been writing full time for over a decade with a focus on making financial and ...

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people unexpectedly needed critical care such as ventilators but were unable to communicate their end-of-life wishes to their loved ones. Researchers like me, who ...