Wednesday, March 23, 2005
The one and only Terry Schiavo post
Nevertheless, I found myself in an email exchange with my mother-in-law on the topic. She objected to Congressional intervention on any number of grounds, including that it was a distraction of Congressional attention from serious problems that affect huge numbers of people, perhaps even to the extent of life and death. Since I prefer Congressional inaction to action on almost any subject, I looked on the bright side: these last two weeks of Congressional distraction ('roids in baseball, now Schiavo) bought Americans two more weeks of peace from Congressional meddling. Since it is obviously profoundly crass to support the Schiavo legislation because it keeps Congress off the backs of the rest of us, I kept my mouth shut and blog quiet until after it was a done deal. That makes me crass, but not culpable. That's a trade I'll take any day.
I do think, though, that it is unfortunate that these cases end up in litigation. Litigation is a terrible system for resolving disputes, except for all the others. By far the best policy is to avoid disputes in the first place. In cases like Terry Sciavo's, there is an obvious means for doing that: write a set of clear instructions when you are healthy.
The problem, of course, is that most people do not have a living will or other such order, and even when they do the medical intervention sometimes occurs before anybody has a chance to dig up the instructions.
Why don't people have living wills? For the same reason that they avoid confronting other unpleasant truths, they do not like to think about their own mortality.
The solution is obvious: Every adult, within three months of their 18th birthday, should have to execute "living will" instructions. These instructions should be in accordance with a standard form, and should be registered in a secure database accessible to all healthcare professionals. To motivate people to complete these online instructions, we should absolve healthcare providers of any liability for failing to treat, or treating, anybody who has failed to fill out these instructions within the required time period. Of course, people should be free to revise their instructions at any time.
It is ridiculous that there has been litigation within the Schiavo family. There wouldn't be, if Terry Schiavo had been responsible enough to fill out a living will. This lawsuit is, in the most reductionist sense, her fault. That having been said, most young Americans are not that responsible. I was 36 before I had a living will, so there but for the grace of God go I (although my well-known approval of the Eskimo "ice berg" solution would have given my kith and kin some clue as to my desires). We need to solve this problem, and the solution is incredibly simple. Terry Schiavo's name should not hereafter be associated with a media contoversy, but with the solution to a recurring problem that we must resolve. Technology and faith will continue to press on the law, and it would be a great tragedy if we decided that the courts were the best means to resolve these questions.
2 Comments:
By 
Scott Joplin, at
Wed Mar 23, 01:25:00 PM:
As you and I have discussed, TigerHawk (and ps it's horsecrap that three Iowa teams were in the NCAAs, but that's another blog rant), this matter is surprisingly well settled among medical professionals, responsible bio-ethicists, law profs, hospitals, hospices and yes--even the our "Culture of Life" Commander-in-Chief, back when he was governor of Texas. And at some point we need to check the naked exploitation politics going on from the GOP Right on this matter. You now have ahd three federal judges, most of whom are Bush Sr or Jr appointees weigh in on the side of--surprise--the conservative view of contracting, not expanding federal rights and remedies, as well as government infringement on individual liberty. Did Tom DeLay bother to call Antonin Scalia? Porbably not, because he would have liked the answer. Now you have the clowns in the Florida legislature beating the drums to demand alomost an impossible standard for withholding extrodinary measures from patients like Terri, et al. No ownder hospices and hospitals ae quaking. No wonder the head of the AHA, himself a Republican, says it's a litle crazy to try to cut Medicare and Medicare, yet now demand that everyone be hooked up till doomsday, on the public dime--all because some tools are trying to score points with evangelicals,put a foot up liberal butts, and erode Roe v Wade.
Now...that brings me to TigerHawk's point. Most people don't discuss living wills, advance directives, powers of attorney. Most people haven't a clue how to go about that. Plus you got a bunch of wacked out scenarios from persistent vegetative states to deep comas, etc. etc. Maybe we need some bright line assistance, awareness, frank talk divorced from politics, religion and other craziness, because intra-familial craiziness dwarfs all of that. You have some families who can't even communicate over mundane relationship matters. Imagine this discussed over the phone or easter dinner. Damn.
So maybe TigerHawk should monitor this matter more closely, lest the clowns in the Congress and in local legsilatures turn every aspect of our personal lives--including life, family and death--into a three ring circus.
Tool
By Jimmy K., at
Wed Mar 23, 09:39:00 PM:
These living wills may not be what everone thinks they are. I was listening to Brad Messer (I believe) and a man called in and said his mother had a living will and some relative took it to court took 5 years and 1/2 million dollars later she died on natural causes.
http://butthatsjustmyopinion.blogspot.com/
