Uniform Rights of the Terminally Ill Act
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The Uniform Rights of the Terminally Ill Act (1985, revised 1989), has been recommended as a Uniform Act in the United States, and subsequently been passed by many states. The law allows a person to declare a living will specifying that, if the situation arises, he or she does not wish to be kept alive through life support if terminally ill or in a coma. The patient may also obtain a health care power of attorney. This power of attorney appoints an agent to make medical decision for the patient in case the patient becomes incompetent.
Many people make use of this act because they do not wish to endure any pain or suffering if weakened by a fatal disease. They want to "die with dignity," so that family members will not have to go through emotional pain of watching their loved one sleep through many years of life with no response to any stimuli.
This form of death is known as passive euthanasia, where death is not inflicted with drugs, but is allowed by cutting off life support.
References
Saunders, Legal and ethical issues in health care Occupations (Aiken) Pg 651
Acknowledgement and Attribution Regarding Sources of Content
Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .
