Examkin

Question

Difficulty: HardAdvance Directives and Surrogate Decision Making

A 71-year-old man is evaluated on the neurology ward one week after suffering a massive left middle cerebral artery infarction. He exhibits severe global aphasia and right hemiplegia. His clinical condition is hemodynamically stable, but he has severe dysphagia and cannot safely swallow. The primary care team has determined that he lacks clinical decision-making capacity. The interdisciplinary team recommends percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube placement for long-term enteral nutrition.

The patient's wife of two years presents to the hospital with a valid Durable Power of Attorney for Financial Affairs, which she states gives her authority over all his assets, including medical expenditures. She strongly requests that the PEG tube be placed.

The patient's adult son from a previous marriage arrives with a legally executed Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare from five years ago, naming the son as the patient's healthcare proxy. The son refuses the procedure, stating his father repeatedly told him, "If I am ever permanently paralyzed and unable to talk, I would never want to be kept alive on a feeding tube."

The wife argues that her current status as the legal spouse and financial agent overrides the older healthcare document.

Which of the following is the most appropriate course of action?

  1. Cancel the procedure as directed by the son acting as the designated healthcare proxy.Answer
  2. B
    Perform the procedure because the wife's financial power of attorney grants authority over medical care costs.
  3. C
    Perform the procedure because a current legal spouse holds highest priority in the statutory surrogate hierarchy.
  4. D
    Seek a judicial ruling of legal incompetence before honoring the surrogate's refusal of life-sustaining treatment.
  5. E
    Proceed with the procedure based on the clinical best interest standard since there is no written living will specifying feeding tube refusal.

Answer

Cancel the procedure as directed by the son acting as the designated healthcare proxy.
The correct course of action is to cancel the procedure and respect the decision of the son. When a patient lacks clinical decision-making capacity, medical decisions fall to a surrogate. The highest priority surrogate is a legally designated healthcare proxy (also known as a Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare). The son holds this document, granting him exclusive authority to make medical decisions for his father. Furthermore, the son is appropriately utilizing the principle of substituted judgment by basing his refusal on the patient's previously expressed verbal wishes regarding life-sustaining treatments. This directive must be honored over the objections of other family members.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Assess the patient's clinical capacity.
The patient lacks capacity to make medical decisions due to severe aphasia and cognitive deficits following a massive stroke.
Determining incapacity is the prerequisite for initiating surrogate decision-making.
2
Identify the appropriate legal surrogate decision-maker.
The son is identified as the legally designated healthcare proxy via a Durable Power of Attorney (DPOA) for Healthcare.
A designated healthcare proxy overrides both the default statutory family hierarchy (the wife) and agents appointed solely for financial matters (DPOA for Financial Affairs).
3
Determine the correct standard of decision-making to apply.
The son applies substituted judgment based on the patient's prior explicit verbal statements.
Substituted judgment is the primary ethical standard when a patient's preferences are known, taking precedence over the best interest standard.
4
Implement the medical decision.
The PEG tube placement is withheld.
The valid healthcare proxy has the legal authority to refuse life-sustaining interventions on the patient's behalf.

Key Concept

Advance Directives and Surrogate Decision Making
Rate this question

Topics

Advance Directives and Surrogate Decision Making

More questions from this topic