Consenting for treatment in advance to reduce leaving the hospital against medical advice among patients with addiction - Experts debate pros and cons
The Substance Use Advance Directive (SUAD) "has the potential to greatly improve the current state of treatment for life-threatening comorbid conditions in SUD patients through reducing AMA discharges," writes Paul Tobias, MD, JD, MBA, of Ohio Health, Columbus. But in an accompanying commentary, Kelly K. Dineen, JD, PhD, of Creighton University, Omaha, Neb., cites "obvious practical and ethical challenges" to the SUAD concept, including the lack of any legal basis for overruling patients if they later decide to refuse treatment: "As long as a patient has capacity, they almost always have the...
Source: eurekalert.org