Law &. Ethics for Medical Careers 5th Edition by Karen Judson,Carlene Harrison

Exercise 88

Your elderly aunt has asked you to take on her health care power of attorney. She makes the request while she is healthy and able to make her own decisions. You agree and sign the appropriate legal papers. She tells you at this time that she never wants "heroic measures" to be undertaken to save her life, if her quality of life would suffer.
Five years later your aunt is 86 and suffering from diabetes, coronary problems, and dementia. While in a long-term care facility, your aunt suffers a severe heart attack and is transported to the local hospital's emergency room. She is conscious when she reaches the emergency room, and when the attending physician asks her if she wants "all measures taken to preserve her life," she says yes. When you arrive at the hospital, your aunt is comatose and has been placed in the intensive care unit. Her physician says she cannot recover, but he could transport her to a larger hospital where physicians could "try" a pacemaker. How will you respond?
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