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Drunken driving, taking drugs, smoking, or ignoring diabetes and high blood pressure seem more like passive suicide than signing a form asking not to be resuscitated in the event of a cardiac arrest.

A signed document requesting that CPR not be attempted after or during cardiac arrest may be in fact a reasonable request for an adult and not a form of passive suicide.

The existence of these documents or the fact that a person may have discussed the issue with their physician or hospital staff is a fact of life these days if a person is alert and conscious when they start getting serious medical care at a facility.

There are times when a physician may determine that CPR is futile or may cause a person to continue living in a situation for which there is no reasonable medical probability of recovery. Such a situation could be worse than death.

Some people may feel that tubes, electrical shock, or the injection of drugs to restart a heart or breathing would interfere with a more natural passing without any assurance of any improvement in one's medical condition. Medical practice allows people to refuse treatment and accept the consequences of the refusal. Each case is unique and it may actually be kinder to allow a person to pass if the condition is terminal, the person has an end-stage condition or is in a persistent vegetative state.

Wearing a medical bracelet providing such information is no guarantee that the wearer's wishes would be granted under any conditions. Medical personnel are more likely to error on the side of keeping a person alive in spite of a patient's wishes if there is no medical surrogate to reinforce a patient's wishes and allow nature to take its course without heroic medical interventions.

The fact that modern medical practice may be able to keep people alive longer does not guarantee a quality of life that is worth living. The fear of pain, dementia, lack of mobility, inability to care for oneself and or to communicate motivate some to provide others with guidance regarding medical care at the end of life's journey.

Suicide has a very negative connotation in the world and should not be confused with signing advance directives regarding medical care. The issues at the end of one's life are not taken lightly by a person who takes the time and has thought out what kind of care they may want at the end of their life.

Some may desire a more natural end, while others will run around looking for a way to extend life for as long as possible, hoping for miracles and more time to smell the roses.

The job of the medical community should be to help patients make informed decisions about their care and its potential to improve a person's life.

Learn more about this author, John Asgeirson.
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