Medical Power of Attorney

Power of Attorneys (POAs) are documents that grant another person to act on your behalf. Medical POAs are a subset of POAs that focus on medical issues. They’re designed to allow the maker to assign another person to make medical decisions on their behalf.

We cover POAs in detail in our Advance Directives Section.

Example Scenario For Medical POA

A Medical Power of Attorney covers medical issues. Let’s look at a scenario and examine how a Medical Power of Attorney might apply. Keep in mind that Medical POAs are usually invoked during very stressful times. When they’re invoked, the maker is often chronically ill, unconscious, suffering, in a hospital, at the end of their life, or some combination.

Scenario

Betty is ninety-five years old and is in the hospital. She has Stage 3 breast cancer that has metastasized through her chest and also has kidney failure. She is intubated and on dialysis. She is unable to communicate effectively. Betty’s husband has Alzheimer’s and is in a nursing home. Betty has two children, a son Bob, and a daughter Diane. They disagree on treatments for their mother. Bob wants to take his Mother off of the machines. Diane wants to keep her Mother on the machines.

Betty has a Medical Power of Attorney granting her son Bob authority for making medical decisions. He wants to take Betty off of the machines, however, Diane insists that their mother said she wanted to attend Thanksgivng with the family.

Decisions Agents Make In Medical Power of Attorney

These are the decisions the maker wants the agent to make. They can be very broad or narrow.

Deciding to accept, withdraw, or decline treatment for any physical or mental condition of mine, including life-and-death decisions.
Agreeing to admit me to or discharge me from any hospital, home, or other institution, including a mental health facility.
Having complete access to my medical and mental health records, and sharing them with others as needed, including after I die.
Carrying out the plans I have already made, or, if I have not done so, making decisions about my body or remains, including organ, tissue, or whole-body donation, autopsy, cremation, and burial.

An Agents Powers Kick In

The agents powers can kick in immediately or only in certain conditions are met. Here are a few examples.

Make decisions for me only when I cannot make them for myself. The physician(s) taking care of me will determine when I lack this ability.
Make decisions for me only when I cannot make them for myself. The physician(s) taking care of me will determine when I lack this ability. Starting now, for the purpose of assisting me with my health care plans and decisions, my agent shall have complete access to my medical and mental health records, the authority to share them with others as needed, and the complete ability to communicate with my personal physician(s) and other health care providers, including the ability to require an opinion of my physician as to whether I lack the ability to make decisions for myself.
Make decisions for me starting now and continuing after I am no longer able to make them for myself. While I am still able to make my own decisions, I can still do so if I want to.

Life-Sustaining Treatments

The most difficult areas of medical POAs involve when to allow or continue life-sustaining treatments. These are things like feeding tubes, breathing machines and CPR. The most common ways to evaluate the desireability of these services is to weigh them on the mnakers desire to lkive a quality life versus a long life. The statements below are designed to anser this question.

The quality of my life is more important than the length of my life. If I am unconscious and my attending physician believes, in accordance with reasonable medical standards, that I will not wake up or recover my ability to think, communicate with my family and friends, and experience my surroundings, I do not want treatments to prolong my life or delay my death, but I do want treatment or care to make me comfortable and to relieve me of pain.
Staying alive is more important to me, no matter how sick I am, how much I am suffering, the cost of the procedures, or how unlikely my chances for recovery are. I want my life to be prolonged to the greatest extent possible in accordance with reasonable medical standards.

Additional Resources

Illinois statutory Medical Poer of Attorney here.

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