Acting on a living will: a physician's dilemma.

The implementation of a living will can give rise to ethical dilemmas for the patient's family and the health care professionals involved. The case reported here raises questions about the right of patients to self-determination, the importance of quality-of-life considerations in treatment decisions and physicians' obligations with respect to the implementation of living wills. Physicians should ensure in advance that the instructions set out in a living will are unambiguous and should bring to the patient's attention any ethical difficulties that they foresee in carrying out those instructions.