Legal Briefing: POLST: Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment
Journal of Clinical Ethics, Vol. 23, No. 4, p. 353-376, 2012
Posted: 11 Jan 2013 Last revised: 1 Jul 2014
Date Written: September 1, 2012
Abstract
Since 2009, Professor Pope has authored a quarterly "Legal Briefing" column for the Journal of Clinical Ethics. Each briefing comprehensively reviews legal developments concerning a particular issue in clinical bioethics. The Journal of Clinical Ethics owns the exclusive copyright to distribute the full-text content.
This issue’s "Legal Briefing" column covers recent legal developments involving POLST (physician orders for life-sustaining treatment.) POLST has been the subject of recent articles in JCE. It has been the subject of major policy reports and a recent New York Times editorial. And POLST has been the subject of significant legislative, regulatory, and policy attention over the past several months.
These developments and a survey of the current landscape are usefully grouped into the following 14 categories:
1. Terminology
2. Purpose, function, and success
3. Status in the states
4. Four legal routes of implementation
5. Which professionals can authorize POLST?
6. Is the patient’s signature required?
7. Can surrogates consent to for incapacitated patients?
8. If a POLST conflicts with an advance directive, which prevails?
9. Is offering POLST mandatory?
10. What are the duties of healthcare providers?
11. What is the role of electronic registries?
12. What is the role of the federal government?
13. International adoption
14. Court cases
Keywords: POLST, physician orders, life-sustaining, patient, surrogate, incapacitated, healthcare, electronic registries, international adoption, MOLST, advance directive, end-of-life, DNR order
JEL Classification: I18, K32, K42, K00
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation