Credit Help Center

A patient capable of an informed decision about her medical treatment generally has the legal right to refuse it. This holds true even if refusing treatment will kill her. Jehovah’s Witnesses, for example, refuse blood transfusions, believing transfusion violates biblical law. Some seriously ill patients would sooner die peacefully at home than prolong their life artificially in a hospital bed. Court decisions have supported individuals’ rights to refuse lifesaving treatment.

An individual can use a power of attorney to appoint his own proxy, someone to carry out his wishes if he becomes comatose or unable communicate. A court can also appoint a proxy to represent a mentally handicapped individual or a parentless child. The proxy’s power to override a refusal of treatment may depend on circumstances. A proxy usually cannot override a living will or other document specifically rejecting certain treatments. On the other hand, parents can override a toddler’s protests against getting vaccinated.

If you don’t have a written statement, such as a living will or a do-not-resuscitate order, it’s easier for your proxy to override your wishes. Even if you gave your proxy an oral directive, she could decide you didn’t really mean it and order you kept alive. Even if your proxy acts on your wishes but another family member could dispute the decision. In the Terri Schiavo case in Florida, Schiavo’s husband and her parents battled in court for several years over whether the comatose Schiavo would really want her feeding tube disconnected.

Some medical professionals recommend that doctors secure patients’ assent whenever possible, even if the patient is a child. As children grow older, informed consent becomes more important particularly if the treatment isn’t lifesaving: It’s one thing to override a 12-year-old who refuses heart surgery, another to force her to undergo cosmetic surgery. With mentally ill patients, the proxy’s power to override their refusal to consent may depend on how much decision-making ability the patient appears to have.