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

See all articles by Thaddeus Mason Pope

Thaddeus Mason Pope

Mitchell Hamline School of Law; Queensland University of Technology - Australian Health Law Research Center; Alden March Bioethics Institute; Saint Georges University

Melinda Hexum

Hamline University - School of Law

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

Pope, Thaddeus Mason and Hexum, Melinda, Legal Briefing: POLST: Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (September 1, 2012). Journal of Clinical Ethics, Vol. 23, No. 4, p. 353-376, 2012, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2198573

Thaddeus Mason Pope (Contact Author)

Mitchell Hamline School of Law ( email )

875 Summit Avenue
Room 320
Saint Paul, MN 55105
United States
651-695-7661 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.thaddeuspope.com

Queensland University of Technology - Australian Health Law Research Center ( email )

2 George Street
Brisbane, Queensland 4000
Australia

Alden March Bioethics Institute ( email )

47 New Scotland Ave
MC 153
Albany, NY 12208
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.thaddeuspope.com

Saint Georges University ( email )

West Indies
Grenada

HOME PAGE: http://www.thaddeuspope.com

Melinda Hexum

Hamline University - School of Law ( email )

1536 Hewitt Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55104-1237
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Abstract Views
973
PlumX Metrics