Right to Receive Respect for Advanced Derivatives

Camila Mendes

In October of 1995 an 92 year old grandmother was sent to the hospital to receive emergency care even though she had an advanced directive. She was resuscitated and kept on life support for four days until her family decided to remove her life support. The family sued the physician for ignoring the grandmother’s wishes by ignoring her DNR form. Advanced derivative is a form that states what type of care a patient would like to receive if they are unable to speak for themselves.

An advanced directive is especially common in patients with chronic illness such as malignant tumors or heart conditions. Elderly patients are also the age group who most often sign advanced directives. When a patient signs this form, they are able to individualize the care they’d like to receive if an emergency occurs such as if they begin to code (have no pulse or respiration). When a code occurs, a patient could receive no care from medical staff, this is called a “Do Not Resuscitate” (DNR) order. Medical errors with DNRs have occurred time and time again because the medical staff did not properly check the patient’s paperwork. In this occasion, the medical staff begin CPR on the patient and possibly resuscitate them, not following their wishes. The grandmother, whose wishes were not respected, is just one among thousands of different cases of medical negligence. The best way to avoid this problem is by reminding your doctor and your family members of your DNR form.

Medical staff forget time and time again to chart DNR orders. Sometimes, medical staff forget to check the chart themselves. If you have a DNR form, remember to remind your doctor and nurse of it. Also, considering you may be unable to speak for yourself at some point, remind your family of your DNR.