New York has somewhat restrictive advance directive laws:
Even if friends or relatives were found, New York prohibits the withholding or withdrawing of life-sustaining treatment without a signed health care proxy or “clear and convincing” evidence of a patient’s wishes. A “do not resuscitate” order can be put in place by doctors, but only in the absence of identified surrogates and only if resuscitation is considered futile.
This tragically leads to cases of futile care that is to the patient’s detriment, as well as a major driver of health care spending.
The issues of end-of-life care need to be addressed more often in major media, so families can be comfortable discussing this difficult topic.
