Death and end of life decisions.

This week our topic concerns death and end of life decisions. We are all faced with the finality of death but how we deal with it varies according to religion, culture, family and other values. We come out of this discussion with more questions than concrete answers. Biologically, death is the cessation of body system functionality. Brain death is cessation of brain activity. You can see how each one is slightly different than the other and may be cause for litigation. Legally, death is defined by case law. Our cases this week discuss the issues involved in deciding when death occurs and the ability of the individual and the family to make end of life decisions. Living wills are documents that state what the writer wishes to occur in specific situations, such as a vegetative state. These documents are legal in all states and are typically encouraged upon hospitalization. The preface to the statement usually has something of the following language: In the event the writer has been determined to be terminal and in a vegetative state…….” One difficulty with this language is that a physician must be the one to determine the “vegetative state” and that usually means that EMT or ambulance personnel cannot make this decision. Therefore, one must be resuscitated and transported to a care facility so that a physician may make such determination. This might be frustrating for both the family and patient. Another end of life document is the Medical Power of Attorney. This document gives the appointed individual the ability to make medical decisions for the signer of the document. This document covers more situations than the living will situations. This is a specific power of attorney as opposed to a Durable Power of Attorney, which is more general and allows the holder to make business,banking, property etc decisions. Once the signer of the document dies, both of these powers also die and the documents are useless. A will or last will and testament is a document that covers property distribution at the time of death. It does not become a valid document until the death of the individual. The power of attorney documents are now no longer valid and the estate comes into being. Every state has its own procedure for administering estates. There is no federal law that covers this although there may be some federal estate taxes that come into play. Should there be no will signed by the decedent, the property passes by state law. This typically means that the property is divided among family members according to level of kinship. This again is according to the individual state’s law because once again, there is no federal law which covers this. Making end of life decisions prior to needing them allows the individual time to consider all alternatives. Many individuals are uncomfortable doing this planning but it helps to open communication between family members, allows individual wishes to be discussed and hopefully hinders future family disputes. Paper Topic: End of life planning is a difficult subject for many. So difficult, that the majority (64%) of people in the United States has no living will, HCPOA or estate will in place at the end of their lives. What this means is that the burden of making difficult medical and legal decisions for the incapacitated person falls to the family and the state court systems, often at great psychological, emotional, and financial expense for both. Please explain and apply how each of the core values of Saint Leo University are fostered and cultivated by the personal decision of each of us to take responsibility to make certain these legal instruments are in place before the necessity of them comes to be. Please apply specifically each of the core values of Community, Respect, Personal Development, Responsible Stewardship, and Integrity to our topic of end of life decision making.