Is it illegal to remove a ventilator from a patient in a DR hospital ?
Can family members make that decision with the physician?
Can family members make that decision with the physician?
- Thread starter AlterEgo
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Is it illegal?
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No it is not illegal. We removed our grand mother from life support after the doctor told us she will not live without it. She passed away 4 hours later.
It is likely not illegal in the DR, perhaps our DR legal expert can weigh in.
It however may be unethical for a Doctor to make that decision based on his/her Hippocratic Oath to "do thy patient no harm."
An additional question might be, are Advanced Care Directives or Living Wills recognized in the DR?
And without some sort of Advanced Care Directive or so called Living Will, family members may have differing opinions on what should happen to the person if such a situation arises.
The Quinlan case in NJ and the Schiavo case in Florida illustrate the need for people to have Advanced Care Directives and/or a.Living Will in place.....especially if all family members do not agree on what life sustaining measures should be used. And while neither of those two situations are DR related, they do raise important questions for those with family in the DR, or those expats retired here.
Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
It's illegal for a non-direct family member closest to the patient to do so after evaluation and agreement from the doctors and hospital's administration.
For underage patients, the parents or legal guardians are the only ones able to do so legally.
Able to:
Parents, siblings, their adult sons/daughters, grandparents (guardians), spouses, etc...
All the time with the doctor's approval ONLY.
Thank you all for your responses. A family member is being kept alive on a ventilator in SD, and yesterday someone told my husband they "can't" disconnect it (40-something nephew was shot 4x, one in lung). The way it was said he thought maybe it was illegal. My first thought was that it couldn't be, but then had thoughts about church influence on government here.
I believe the only time someone should be removed from a ventilator is when the doctors have
confirmed there is no brain activity (brain dead)
I think it's so important to have a living will just in case something happens the person
has in writing how they would like their wishes to be carried out.
confirmed there is no brain activity (brain dead)
I think it's so important to have a living will just in case something happens the person
has in writing how they would like their wishes to be carried out.
If the Doctor says he's brain dead, then there's not point to continue on the ventilator.
It's not illegal for the next of kin (in charge of the hospital bill btw) to disconnect with the say of the Doctor that things will not change for the patient.
He has died from the gunshots. The police have been less than helpful because he was still alive. Maybe now something will be done, as the shooter was identified early on and they have security video of the entire attack.
RIP Manolo
RIP Manolo
I couldn't find anything on the subject in Law 42-01 (Ley General de Salud) nor in the Code of Ethics of the Medical Profession (Decree 641-05).
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