Knowledgeable Aging

Resources for the Aging Population

You’re Suing Me BECAUSE I Kept Your Mom Alive? A Discussion of Wrongful Prolongation of Life Lawsuits

Wrongful Prolongation of Life cases are on the rise, and providers should take note and beware. Advance Directives give competent adult patients the right to accept or reject even life-saving medical treatment and choose a surrogate to speak for them after they become incapacitated. If medical providers ignore the patient’s healthcare wishes, the patient or family may have a cause of action against the provider resulting in monetary payouts. Doctors no longer have automatic immunity because they “erred on the side of life.” This Final Exit Network presentation is designed to educate patients and providers about the importance of listening to the patient and their legal surrogate, the duty to follow the advance directive or POLST, and the consequences for failure to do so.

Listen to the Podcast

  • 2:59 – Patient Self-Determination Act
  • 3:47 – Informed consent
  • 5:25 – Duty to follow advance directive and surrogate
  • 6:51 – Exceptions to the duty to follow advance directive
  • 8:08 – If they refuse to treat, medical providers must…
  • 9:18 – Wrongful prolongation of life cases – unwanted medical treatment
  • 11:28 – Medical battery vs Medical malpractice
  • 13:33 – Case #1 Failure to follow advance directive and surrogate
  • 16:58 – Case #2 Failure to follow advance directive, MOLST and surrogates
  • 22:02 – Recent wrongful prolongation of life lawsuits
  • 25:11 – Ways to ensure your advance directive is followed
  • 28:32 – Questions
Althea Halchuck

For 20 years, I have been advocating for the vulnerable and dying.  For ten years, I trained and mediated elder disputes at the LA County Department of Consumer Affairs.  I helped elders with family issues, including financial abuse and end-of-life care.   In 2012, I earned an Executive Juris Doctor (EJD) from Concord Law School, a division of Purdue Global, majoring in Health Law.  My internship was in Pediatric Hospice, where I spent a year attending Interdisciplinary Team Meetings and writing about my experiences.

For many years, I have been a hospice volunteer sitting at the bedside of many dying patients.  In addition to supporting their families, I help tie up their final loose ends so they can pass in peace.  I have been a Thanatologist since 2015. I am certified as an expert in caring for the dying and bereaved and teaching others about the dying process.  I have clinical bioethics training and sat on two hospital bioethics committees.

In 2020, I became a Board-Certified Patient Advocate (BCPA) and started Ending Well Patient Advocacy, LLC.  I weaved my past experiences into a business that specializes in giving people a voice in planning the last chapter of their life.  I earned Facilitator certificates through Respecting Choices® and now offer community classes and presentations on advance care planning and surrogacy.

In January 2021, I became the Surrogate Consultant for the Final Exit Network (FEN).  My role is to help FEN members and their partners who act as surrogates or healthcare proxies enforce and honor the patient’s Advance Directives.

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