Health Care Directives

You should appoint a health care agent to make medical decisions for you if you cannot communicate with your doctors. Your health care agent will convey your wishes to your physician and take whatever action is necessary to ensure that your intentions are carried out.

The Health Care Agent

Under Connecticut law you may designate a health care agent as your spokesperson to advocate for your wishes if you are incompetent, and in either the final stages of a terminal illness or a persistent vegetative state. The health care agent has authority to 1) communicate your wishes about the withholding or withdrawal of life support and 2) enforce your right to refuse medical treatment.

Why You Should Have a Living Will

A living will is a legal document which states your wishes concerning the withholding and/or removal of life support systems if you are incompetent and you are unable to communicate your wishes regarding your treatment to your physicians. You must also be either in a permanent coma or in the final stages of a terminal illness. When a properly executed living will is in place, you are in control of making the decision to withdraw life support systems, not the medical professional or the judicial system.

A living will is an important document for people of all ages, not just the elderly. A living will is vital for anyone who does not wish to prolong his or her death. While the physicians may follow the patient’s intentions regarding the withdrawal or continuation of life support, in many instances these intentions are unknown. Without this knowledge, the difficult and emotional decision to continue or withdraw life support falls upon family and loved ones. A living will avoids this difficulty and turmoil.

A living will gives you the peace of mind that your health care directives will be carried out.

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