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Assessing Decision-Making Capacity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 April 2021

Bernard Lo
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Extract

Physicians frequently are asked to assess whether a patient has the capacity to make informed decisions about his or her medical care. Such assessments may be difficult and controversial. There are few explicit legal standards for judging competency to make medical decisions. Furthermore, clinical practices for evaluating decision-making capacity are problematic. The following case illustrates some of these problems.

Mrs. C., a 74 year old widow with congestive heart failure, angina pectoris, and mild dementia, has been admitted to the hospital for shortness of breath and chest pain. In the past three years she has suffered two heart attacks. During the past two months, her symptoms have worsened despite several medications, including maximally tolerated doses of diltiazem, furosemide and enalapril. She now develops shortness of breath and chest pain when walking one block. Because there are no other medical treatments for her condition, her physician recommends angioplasty or bypass surgery in order to ameliorate her symptoms.

Type
Article
Information
Law, Medicine and Healthcare , Volume 18 , Issue 3 , Fall 1990 , pp. 193 - 201
Copyright
Copyright © 1990 American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics

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