Meredith Miceli, an Associate General Counsel for the Ochsner Health System in New Orleans, published an article in the summer 2016 Ochsner Journal: “Unilateral Do Not Resuscitate Orders.”
Ms. Miceli observes that Louisiana has no legal process like the 1999 Texas Advance Directives Act that offers safe harbor legal immunity. Indeed, she notes there is “no legal guidance” in Louisiana. (But the 1998 Causey case might suggest some caution.)
“So, what should an attending physician do when, in his or her professional judgment, any clinical treatment other than comfort care will be ineffective or harmful to a patient, but the family’s wishes . . . are in support of doing everything?”
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