Overview
This document, also known as a Living Will, directs the physician to withhold or continue life sustaining procedures in the event of an incurable or irreversible condition under the circumstances provided therein.
 

This is an important legal document. It is designed to help you communicate your wishes about medical treatment at some time in the future when you are unable to make your wishes known because of illness or injury. These wishes are usually based on personal values. In particular, you may want to consider what burdens or hardships of treatment you would be willing to accept for a particular amount of benefit obtained if you were seriously ill.
 

You are encouraged to discuss your values and wishes with your family or chosen spokesperson, as well as your physician. Provide a copy of your directive to your physician, usual hospital, and family or spokesperson. Consider a periodic review of this document. By periodic review, you can best assure that the directive reflects your preferences.
 

In addition to this advance directive, Texas law provides for two other types of directives that can be important during a serious illness. These are the Medical Power of Attorney and the Out-of-Hospital Do-Not-Resuscitate Order. You may wish to discuss these with your physician, family, hospital representative, or other advisers. You may also wish to complete a directive related to the donation of organs and tissues.
 

Real Life Lessons … Terry Schiavo Case
It isn't the most pleasant thing to think about, but if the Terry Schiavo case taught us one thing, it is that everyone should have a Physician’s Directive. In a Physician’s Directive you may specify how you wish to be treated in case you are unable to make your wishes known. Do you want to be kept on life support? Who do you want making that decision if you are unable to communicate? Questions like these are addressed in a Physician’s Directive so your family or the hospital does not make those decisions on your behalf - which is what happens when you are caught in this situation without an advance directive.
 

Saving Your Loved Ones from Making the Decision
A Physician’s Directive allows you to have control over your future health care. It saves your family from having to make decisions that could haunt them for their lifetime. Here at the Baba Law Firm we can help create your Physician’s Directive, and other important documents that will affect yours and your family's future if you're not able to communicate with them or your doctors.
 

Pricing
If you decide you need a Physician’s Directive, we will form your legal papers in a timely fashion. We offer two cost-saving options:

FAQ's

• What is the difference between a Physicians Directive and a Medical Power of Attorney?

• If I name someone to make medical decisions for me in a Medical Power of Attorney, can that person later decide not to turn off the machines even though I have signed my Physicians Directive?

What is the difference between a Physicians Directive and a Medical Power of Attorney?
A Medical Power of Attorney is a document that allows you to name an agent to make medical treatment decisions for you in accordance with your wishes if you are not able to do so yourself.
 

A Physicians Directive is a document that allows you to address what kind of medical treatment you would like to receive if you ever face a terminal or irreversible medical condition. It is often referred to as the document where you tell the doctors to "pull the plug." Most people request that all treatments other than those needed to keep them comfortable be discontinued or withheld so they can be allowed to die as gently as possible.
 

The main difference between the two documents is that the Physicians Directive is where you actually express your own specific preferences as to the use of life sustaining treatment, and the Medical Power of Attorney is where you name one or more persons to make most medical decisions for you.
 

Within a Physicians Directive, it is also possible to name an agent to make medical treatment decisions for you in accordance with your personal wishes if you do not also have a Medical Power of Attorney. Even so, most people go ahead and sign both a Physicians Directive as well as a Medical Power of Attorney, and they do not name an agent within a Physicians Directive.

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If I name someone to make medical decisions for me in a Medical Power of Attorney, can that person later decide not to turn off the machines even though I have signed my Physicians Directive?
If you have both a Physicians Directive and a Medical Power of Attorney, there certainly can be some overlap.

For instance, a decision made by your agent under a Medical Power of Attorney may have the effect of ending your life within hours or days even though you may not yet have reached the point at which your Physicians Directive would have applied to your medical condition.
 

In situations where there is overlap, Texas law states that your attending physician and the agent you have named to make medical decisions must act in accordance with your directions. Presumably, this means that if your physician has determined you are in a terminal or irreversible condition, your Physicians Directive should be honored. However, since the law is not as clear as it could be, it is a good idea to include a provision in your Medical Power of Attorney requiring your agent to comply with a validly executed Physicians Directive.
 

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