Advance Directives Evolve to Ensure Better End-of-Life Planning
Thursday, June 17, 2010 - 14:50
in Health & Medicine
When first developed in the 1970s, advance directives focused on providing specific legal instructions, such as a patient`s wishes to withdraw or withhold life-sustaining treatment in cases of terminal illness or incapacity. The documents helped physicians avoid legal problems associated with fulfilling the patient`s wishes.