When it comes to estate planning, consider taking a page out of the Boy Scouts Handbook: Be prepared. The last thing you want is for your family to be scrambling to pick up the pieces after your death. Of course, you’ll need...more
The American Hospital Association estimates that half of Americans suffer from chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Following a diagnosis, many experience concerns about the kind of care they will...more
On August 20, 2023, an Indiana Appellate Court dismissed a suit regarding allegedly negligent life-prolonging care rendered to a nonagenarian patient, who could not herself consent. Plaintiff’s complaint alleged that the...more
Hospitals have long used color-coded wristbands as a patient safety initiative. Recently, the FDA issued a letter to medical device manufacturers to caution them against using colors for device identification wristbands that...more
While we deal with an unprecedented global pandemic which alters life as we know it for all of us, COVID-19 brings up concerns regarding our clients’ Advanced Directives that were prepared and signed during “normal” times. ...more
Taking the time to complete your health care power of attorney and living will is a great step toward ensuring that your health care wishes will be followed if you are unable to make decisions for yourself. A health care...more
The COVID-19 pandemic has given all of us a chance to take inventory of our lives and consider the "what ifs" of our health care situation. Advance care planning is for everyone. As we have seen, COVID-19 can impact anyone,...more
Public Health Emergencies (PHE), particularly those involving disease outbreaks, present significant ethical challenges relating to the provision of medical care. Currently, as Illinois and the nation confront an escalating...more
As a Spanish student at West Point, I read a lot of Spanish literature. One of the books that I read was Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Cien Años De Soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude). This literary effort made him one of...more
Per AARP, an estimated 1.3 million American adults are under guardianship, with approximately 85% being over age 65. In the wake of revelations that professional guardian, Rebecca Fierle, signed Do Not Resuscitate orders for...more
It is a very good idea to create advance directives in order to plan for the possibility that you may one day be unable to make your own medical decisions. In doing so, there can be confusion about the difference between a...more