Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-1978
Keywords
Quinlan case, Massachusetts Supreme Court, Saikewicz case
Disciplines
Constitutional Law | Courts | Judges | Medical Jurisprudence
Abstract
The Massachusetts Supreme Court has recently ruled that decisions about withholding care from hopelessly ill, legally incapacitated patients must be made by judges. It clearly rejected the view that families and attending physicians should be empowered to make such decisions. In this respect, the ruling contrasts with that of the Quinlan case and highlights the issue of whether judges or physicians and families are better able to make medically and morally sound decisions respecting this class of patients.
Recommended Citation
Beresford, H. Richard, "The Role of Judges in Life/Death Decisions for the Neurologically Impaired" (1978). Cornell Law Faculty Publications. 1647.
https://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/facpub/1647
Publication Citation
H. Richard Beresford, "The Role of Judges in Life/Death Decisions for the Neurologically Impaired," 4 Annals of Neurology 463 (1978)
Included in
Constitutional Law Commons, Courts Commons, Judges Commons, Medical Jurisprudence Commons