A message from Dr. Edward Nalband, Medical Director, regarding the importance of a Health Care Proxy.

Terri Schiavo suffered a heart attack in 1990. A prolonged lack of oxygen to the brain resulted in irreversible brain damage. She has remained in a persistent vegetative state ever since. Her cardiac injury and resultant brain injury were a tragic complication of an electrolyte imbalance, ironically due to an eating disorder. She has existed in a state of total care for the last 15 years with no hope of recovery. Recently, her plight has gained national attention as both a "right to life" and a "right to die" controversy depending on your point of view.

The controversy has polarized groups on both sides around whether a person like Terri Schiavo should be allowed to have her feeding tube discontinued. This may seem like a highly unusual circumstance that could never happen to any of us. Hopefully, it never will. But life is fragile and unexpected, unfortunate things can happen to anyone of us at any time. Sometimes those things render us unable to make decisions about our health care. Unless we have designated a specific person(s) to manage our care and make those decisions for us, there exists a possibility that the kind of controversy surrounding Terri Schiavo could happen to us.

Massachusetts has a health care proxy law that can prevent this. By simply taking the time to fill out a form cases like Terri Schiavo's would not happen. Although filling out the form is simple, it is not done lightly. It requires a person to think about whom they trust to make decisions about their care that would best represent their interests. It requires a witness but not legal counsel. No one can ever describe and decide ahead of time what to do in every possible life and death circumstance that might arise. Nevertheless, the person(s) appointed to be your health care proxy should understand what things are most important to you regarding your health care and be trusted to carry out those wishes if you are unable to do so.

Terri Schiavo's case is tragic. A health care proxy does not take away that tragedy or simplify the decisions about her care. It does make clearer who needs to make the decisions. I encourage everyone to consider completing the health care proxy form embedded above. Terri Schiavo's case should demonstrate to all of us the need to make our desires about end of life care known to our loved ones. They can then be clear in acting in our best interests. Understanding these issues and not acting could lead to an equally tragic situation. Please make sure to do this in the near future.

Posted March 24, 2005