Wallach S J, Crabtree J P
Queen's Medical Center, Honolulu.
Hawaii Med J. 1990 Dec;49(12):461-4.
Two recent court decisions clarified whether and under what circumstances a patient may refuse life-sustaining medical treatment, including food and water. The Nancy Cruzan case, decided by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 25, 1990, and the case of Shirley Crabtree, decided by Family Court Senior Judge Daniel G. Heely in Hawaii on April 26, 1990, had differing outcomes. Moreover, Hawaii has a living will statute which purports to place limits on when and whether a person may choose to die rather than live in a severely disabled condition. This article will summarize the current law, and will offer practical advice to physicians on how to deal with these sensitive issues that affect their patients.
最近的两项法院判决明确了患者是否以及在何种情况下可以拒绝维持生命的医疗治疗，包括食物和水。1990年6月25日美国最高法院判决的南希·克鲁赞案，以及1990年4月26日夏威夷家庭法院高级法官丹尼尔·G·希利判决的雪莉·克拉布特里案，结果有所不同。此外，夏威夷有一项生前遗嘱法规，旨在对一个人何时以及是否可以选择死亡而非在严重残疾状态下生存加以限制。本文将概述现行法律，并就医生如何处理这些影响其患者的敏感问题提供实用建议。
