Legal Aspects of the Role of the Family in the Care of Elderly Patients

Abstract

Recent developments in both the common law and statutory law over the last decade have greatly clarified the rights of the patient in the context of the physician-patient relationship. The law is now reasonably clear as to the right of the competent patient to make decisions regarding his own treatment, and even to execute “living wills” under the Advance Medical Directive Act. The law is however less clear as to the role and rights of the family of the patient, particularly in the circumstances when the elderly patient becomes unconscious or otherwise incompetent. This paper examines some of the legal issues arising in this context, and their implications.