Advance directives and Living Wills

Issue title: Life-Sustaining Treatments in Vegetative State: Scientific Advances and Ethical Dilemmas

Guest editors: Gian Luigi Giglix and Nathan D. Zaslery

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Palazzani, Laura^{; *}

Affiliations: Libera Università Maria SS. Assunta (LUMSA), Rome, Italy | [x] Department of Neurosciences, Ospedale “Santa Maria della Misericordia”, Udine, Italy | [y] Concussion Care Center of Virginia, Inc., Ltd., Tree of Life Services, Inc., Pinnacle Rehabilitation, Inc., Glen Allen, VA, USA

Correspondence: [*] Address for correspondence: Laura Palazzani, LUMSA, via Pompeo Magno 22, 00192 Roma, Italy. Tel.: +39 06 68422466; Fax: +39 06 68422493; E-mail: palazzani@lumsa.it

Abstract: The article focuses on the philosophical, ethical and juridical problems concerning Advance directives and Living Wills (underlining analogies and differences). The author makes a critical comparison between the theories supporting Living Wills (the liberal theory appealing to the principle of self-determination and the utilitarian theory on the “quality of life”) and the reasons against them (with reference to the foundation of the absolute value and dignity of human life till the end).

Keywords: advance directives, Living Wills, right to die, euthanasia, value of life

DOI: 10.3233/NRE-2004-19407

Journal: NeuroRehabilitation, vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 305-313, 2004