In the quarter of a century since the landmark Karen Ann Quinlan case, the ethical, legal and social consensus supporting patients' rights to refuse life-sustaining treatment has become a cornerstone of bioethics. Patients can now legally write preliminary
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guidelines that will govern their treatment decisions during future incapacity, but in clinical practice their wishes are often ignored. Exploring the tension between incompetent patients' advance wishes and their current best interests, as well as other challenges to implementing directives, Robert S. Olick presents a comprehensive argument for favouring advance instructions during the dying process. He clarifies the widespread confusion about the moral and legal importance of advance directives and recommends changes in law, policy and practice. Olick also presents and develops an original theory of future autonomy that transforms and strengthens patient and family control. Focusing largely on philosophical issues, the book devotes considerable attention to legal and policy issues and includes case studies throughout the text. It is an important resource for medical ethicists, lawyers, doctors, nurses, health professionals and patient rights advocates that supports the practical, ethical and humanitarian duty of serious