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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
 Posted - 03/22/2005 : 01:08:45 [Permalink]
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quote:
Does anybody know of a fool-proof, legal way to prevent one's medical care from being hijacked by one's parents?
Nothing can fully protect you from your family in these cases. I have seen, first hand, many instances of family overriding a person's living will.
The best way, I think, is to make sure that anyone who could possibly be involved in the decision making process is aware of your specific wishes. Hire a lawyer, have a copy of your living will on file in his office, and put a clause in your will (the 'last will and testament' one) that states anyone who violates your living will is barred from inheriting anything from you. Instruct your lawyer to file civil/criminal charges against anyone who knowingly violates your living will. Pain and Suffering lawsuits for anyone who violates your wishes. While it may or may-not be successful, it will cost the violater some $ to defend themselves in court.
Also, make damn sure that your primary doctor is aware of your wishes and has a legal copy of your living will on file in his office.
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 03/22/2005 : 03:17:16 [Permalink]
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My LW was made out long ago. My lawyer has a copy and another is on file at the VA. A third is with my son-in-law and executor, and I have one.
But now that our sleezy, grandstanding Congress and hypocritical liar of an alledged president has seen fit to get involved in this, I think I'll go the lawyer and have him make sure that it's as close to set-in-stone as possible.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 03/22/2005 : 04:02:19 [Permalink]
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An interesting article from the Chicago Sun-Times:
quote:
"This is about defending life," said Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, trying to explain the extraordinary paroxysm of government activity this weekend. A frenzy that saw the generally inert Congress working late into the night and the constantly recreating President Bush cutting short a weekend on his Texas ranch to hurry back to Washington.
He's exactly right. But what is "defending life" about? It is, of course, a code phrase for a set of religious values. People do not "defend life" by pushing for universal health care or for immediate action in Sudan -- activities that would defend life in the usual sense of the term. No, in this country, "defending life" has come to mean a specific moral agenda: no abortion, limited stem cell research, no assisted suicide, no death with dignity.
Like any brand of extremism, the "defend life" philosophy breeds irrationalities -- the zealot who loves life so much he murders an abortion doctor; the life-affirming protesters holding enormous photos of mutilated fetuses up to cringing pedestrians on Madison Street.
quote:
The peacenik crowd always says they are afraid of their government. And I always smiled, thinking them paranoid. But now I've caught a whiff of that cold dread. It started with the jackboot response of the Federal Communications Commission to Janet Jackson's nipple, continued through public school teachers across the country being coerced not to teach evolution, and burst forth with the mobilization over Terri Schiavo.
The government is supposed to be our check on muscular Christianity, which would slide easily from handing you a pamphlet on the street to grilling you over on a spit until you confess your heresies, were it not for the restraint of law.
That might sound alarmist. But who knows where this will go next?
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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Starman
SFN Regular
Sweden
1613 Posts |
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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
Posted - 03/22/2005 : 05:37:45 [Permalink]
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Just another liberal ruling by some activist judge.
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard
3192 Posts |
Posted - 03/22/2005 : 06:15:57 [Permalink]
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What is that like 5 of 5 judges now.. The supreme court already said they were not going to hear this.
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"...things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say." -Lucian on his book True History
"...They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time." -Lucian critical of early Christians c.166 AD From his book, De Morte Peregrini |
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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
Posted - 03/22/2005 : 06:21:14 [Permalink]
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quote:
The supreme court already said they were not going to hear this.
Well, that leaves what? One more? Think the Atlanta appellate is the last step before SCOTUS.
What SCOTUS needs to have a meeting on is the bullshit the congress pulled over the weekend. They need to put them back in their place.
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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Renae
SFN Regular
543 Posts |
Posted - 03/22/2005 : 07:05:08 [Permalink]
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Sanjay Gupta said the other night on CNN that Terri's CT scan showed no activity in the front of her brain, where cognition and awareness live. I wonder if people, generally speaking, understand how the brain works--and if they did, would they still want her to live?
This situation upsets me at many levels. That poor woman's face will haunt me for a long time. |
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BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard
3192 Posts |
Posted - 03/22/2005 : 07:38:44 [Permalink]
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| Well the 'spirit' lives with or with out the brain, according to this randomized pile of chicken bones I have thrown on the table with raw gizzards. |
"...things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say." -Lucian on his book True History
"...They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time." -Lucian critical of early Christians c.166 AD From his book, De Morte Peregrini |
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belt
New Member
USA
17 Posts |
Posted - 03/22/2005 : 08:38:31 [Permalink]
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If someone were to truly believe that "Well the 'spirit' lives with or with out the brain", I'll say it again, why the hell would you condemn their spirit to be trapped in that broken shell???!!!
(not directed at you BPS, just piggybacking on your thoughts :) ) |
| Edited by - belt on 03/22/2005 10:00:46 |
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Wendy
SFN Regular
USA
614 Posts |
Posted - 03/22/2005 : 09:07:09 [Permalink]
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As expected - Terri Schiavo's parents appeal Judge's ruling
quote:
The notice of appeal was filed electronically hours later with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta by David Gibbs III, an attorney for Terri Schiavo's parents. The notice tells the court that the full appeal will follow. That court was already considering an appeal on whether Terri Schiavo's right to due process had been violated.
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Millions long for immortality who don't know what to do on a rainy afternoon.
-- Susan Ertz
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trishran
Skeptic Friend
USA
196 Posts |
Posted - 03/22/2005 : 13:07:43 [Permalink]
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More on Dr Hammeresfahr: He runs the Bammesfahr Neurological Institute in Clearwater, FL. He says he would use a hyperbaric chamber and administer drugs to dialate her blood vessels and increase bloodflow to the brain. He says her chances of getting better are "excellent."
On the issue of end of life wishes - thanks for all the good suggestions. I am worried that with the recent congressional activity that even living will and durable power of attorney will not be enough. I'm still going to do that, and give copies to my MD, and file copies elsewhere, too.
I have also decided that, being in possession of a digital camera that does video, that I will make a viedo statement to support the things I will be soon putting in writing.
Although the idea of putting in the will that anyone who interferes won't inherit, I have no real possessions, other than personal effects. |
trish |
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Wendy
SFN Regular
USA
614 Posts |
Posted - 03/22/2005 : 13:38:44 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by trishran
I have also decided that, being in possession of a digital camera that does video, that I will make a viedo statement to support the things I will be soon putting in writing.
I think that's a good idea. A video would not serve as a legal document in most (if not all) states, but it reinforces your wishes, and it might comfort anyone feeling guilty about carrying them out on your behalf.
quote:
Originally posted by trishran
Although the idea of putting in the will that anyone who interferes won't inherit, I have no real possessions, other than personal effects.
Many states have laws to prevent what is loosely referred to as "the hand beyond the grave" that would probably make that an invalid request. Of course, your local probate attorney will be able to tell you what you can and cannot do and still have a valid Will.
Also, be aware that most (if not all) states do not record your Will until after your death. This is so that changes can be made right up until the bitter end. For that reason your Will probably isn't a good tool for enforcing your wishes (i.e. let me die or you don't inherit) since you will have met your demise before your heirs get the point.
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Millions long for immortality who don't know what to do on a rainy afternoon.
-- Susan Ertz
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trishran
Skeptic Friend
USA
196 Posts |
Posted - 03/22/2005 : 14:00:00 [Permalink]
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Wendy, thanks for the points, they are very helpful. I figured that a video, while not a living will, might do more than help my husband [or guardian] notfeel guilty, it might be treated as supporting evidence.
Is there any way for an adult to divorce their parents? Or, is it a piecemeal thing, power of attorney, living will and such? It seems to me that if an adult had criminal parents who had, say committed crimes against the person [not that this posting is an accusation of particular behavior by my parents, this is a hypothetical] it would be cruel to allow the parents to make medical decisions. |
trish |
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pfretzschner
Skeptic Friend
USA
67 Posts |
Posted - 03/22/2005 : 14:04:19 [Permalink]
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| Dr. Hammesfahr is a quack. He has offered no documentation to back up his claim that he could help Mrs. Schiavo. The only articles cited on his website are published on medforum.com. Medforum seems not to even subject submitted articles to proofreading, so one wonders about the rigor of their reviews. In addition, Dr. Hammesfahr is himself on the editorial board of Medforum. |
| Edited by - pfretzschner on 03/22/2005 14:05:38 |
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