Abstract
To the Editor: The Patient Self-Determination Act, discussed by Wolf et al. (Dec. 5 issue),* makes it likely that health care providers will have knowledge of the existence of an advance directive for care, but it does not ensure knowledge of its contents, Thus, health care professionals need to be relentless in requesting a copy of the directive, and pending receipt of it they should ask the patient detailed questions about treatment preferences and obtain the names and addresses of preferred and alternative proxies to be documented in the record. It is desirable to document the date of the…
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1501-1503 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | New England Journal of Medicine |
Volume | 326 |
Issue number | 22 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 28 1992 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Medicine