End life-sustaining treatment without confirmation from two doctors that you are permanently unconscious or terminally ill, and there is no reasonable possibility that your condition will improve.In addition, your agent cannot do any of the following: For example, if your adult child is your agent and disagrees with your decision to stop cancer treatment, he will have no legal authority to reverse your decision. While your agent can make important decisions about your care when you can’t, they have no authority to make decisions while you are conscious and of sound mind. Your Healthcare Agent’s Powers Are Limited Your healthcare power of attorney goes into effect as soon as you are unable to communicate your wishes, even if your condition is temporary and you are expected to recover. Include a declaration of mental health treatment to express your preferences for psychological treatment and medications.Outline your wishes for life-extending efforts in extreme situations.Authorize the medical facility to release information to your agent.Appoint a person you trust to make healthcare decisions on your behalf.With a healthcare power of attorney, you can: This heartbreaking ordeal can be avoided with a simple document. If your family disagrees with the decisions being made by the hospital, they might have to ask a judge to name one of them as your guardian in order to overrule the doctor. Even though it might seem logical that your spouse or adult child would be able to talk to your doctors and make decisions about your care, the law does not support this. One Simple Document Will Change ThatĪ healthcare power of attorney is a legal document in which you name someone-known as your agent-to make healthcare decisions for you when you can’t because of physical or mental incapacitation. In Ohio, if you do not have certain legal documents in place, it could very well be the hospital that decides what happens to you, and your family might have no say in the decision. But what happens when you are unable to make those decisions? What if you are unconscious and in need of a treatment or procedure? What if, God forbid, you are on life support with no chance of recovery? Who decides what to do? You decide when you need to see a doctor, what tests you want to have run when you are at the doctor, and what course of treatment you can tolerate and afford. You make decisions about your own healthcare almost every day.
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