An elderly patient has the same legal rights as any other adult patient who is not congenitally retarded or who has not been declared incom¬petent by a court. Yet elderly patients are more likely to have their legal rights abrogated because they are more likely to be alone and isolated, poor, demented, and institutionalized. They may be less able to be ef¬fective advocates for their personal beliefs and desires. Also, they tend to have less available ancillary support from informal support net¬works. Because of this vulnerability, health care personnel should identify and support the rights and interests of elderly patients and guard against accidental or planned disempowerment.
An awareness of their personal and ethical interests and vigorous ad¬vocacy of their legal rights are critical in our adversary system of jus-
tice, which depends largely on individual redress of grievances. This awareness is especially crucial in the medical context, in which patients are often ill-informed or misled about the nature and extent of their individual rights and liberties.