Problem:
A 39 year old single woman does not have a Health Care Power of Attorney. She is in a plane crash and is hospitalized in a permanent vegetative state. She cannot make her own decisions. Her next of kin are her parents and one brother. She lives with her partner of 12 years.
1. What document/resource may guide you in this situation to identify her legal representative?
2. Who would the law recognize as the first to be able to make decisions about her medical care?
3. If this woman would have preferred someone else to make her medical decisions, what specific document should she have completed prior to her accident? DO NOT merely state "advance directive" be specific to the type of advance directive.
4. Is this process ethical for this woman? Explain your response.