For the last decade, scholars have discussed and institutions have experimented with policies governing special categories of care, especially resuscitation. Many hospitals—and with increasing frequency, long-term eare facilities—have policies to guide decisions about resuscitation. These policies vary widely; some reserve the decision for the physician, others empower patients and designated surrogates to make the decision. New YorkJState has legislated the patient’s right to decide on resuscitation status.
As with other decisions about care, decisions about resuscitation should be brought to patients’ attention when they are lucid. No matter who decides, some system should exist for recording, communicating, and reviewing the decision. No legal case has been reported in which a physician or an institution has been found liable for respecting a do-not-resuscitate order that was written after an appropriate discussion with the patient and family and was duly noted on the patient’s chart.