Advance Care Directives claim that the patient has made a decision at a previous time wanting to be put to death, in circumstances where there is no specific current patient request. This claim may depend on a piece of paper or a computer entry. The dangers of enforcing Advance Care Directive claims include errors in paperwork, confusion over correct names and identities, or errors in computer data entry. As well as errors there are opportunities for fraud eg greedy people setting up false claims of Advance Care Directives, so as to hasten a person’s death for their own advantage. Saying that this is probably what the patient would want is not good enough.
Medical staff are entitled to be wary of these claims and ignore them when presented with a present situation of medical need and where a decision of a patient to seek death might not be communicated clearly. There are reasons why Section 33 of the End of Life Choice Act treats claimed Advance Care Directives as invalid. If they are allowed, a person who changes their mind may find that they are forcibly held down and killed anyway – this has happened overseas.
See also an article in CathNews here.
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