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Refusal of treatment

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What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? AR
My mother was found by a family member on the floor incoherant they took her to hospital and she is now doing better. My mother has a DNR but it doesn't cover what she is wanting now. She has never really been one to see a doc infact this was the first time in about 15yrs. She is coming home from the hosp soon and has expressed that she doesnt want any treatment what so ever. She doesn't want us to call 911 if we find her in that state again. She has told the doctors not to give us any medical info on her so we are not really sure what is wrong with her. Her not wanting to get treatment is nothing she has not told all of us our whole lives.

We (all her children) want to carry out her wishes but want to make sure we cover our bases. Does she need to add this to her DNR? If we find her do we call 911 and hand them this paper? This is hard for all of us because we do not want to loose our mom but it would be harder on us if we go against her wishes. Can she refuse basic treatment? Do we need to contact a lawyer to get this added to her DNR?
 


I cannot speak to adding this language to a DNR...another of my knowledgeable colleagues will have to chime in. However, it is your constitutional right to refuse treatment. Hope that helps. Good Luck!
 

Gail in Georgia

Senior Member
A "DNR" is a Do Not Resuscitate in case of a cardiac or respiratory arrest.

It does not cover issues such as walking in and finding your mother down and incoherent from, say, dehydration (actually a very common issue among older folks who live alone).

Mom is being unrealistic. Unless she has a documented terminal illness it's unlikely you're going to simply throw an old rug over her if you walk in and find her in the same state. If she does have a terminal illness (and she needs to be forthcoming with this information) programs like Home Hospice would be available. This would allow her to remain in the home setting until she passes.

What's the point of calling 911 if you're not planning on having anything done when the paramedics get there?

Some folks include a DNH (Do Not Hospitalize) in their medical file; in this case if mom was hauled off the ER for dehydration they'd likely rehydrate her with IV's until she is stable and then discharge her without actually admitting her into the hospital. A family member would likely need to be present to take her back home.

Gail
 
Thank you

Thank you for your replies. I think mom is not telling us everything which is hard for us to know what we need to do. I will talk to her about the DNH.
 

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