The New York Times reports here on an ethics committee at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx and how it attempts to mediate potential bioethical conflicts among family members and doctors when patients are unable to make medical decisions for themselves. The article states that "Montefiore's program uses the tools of mediation, common in business and divorce but relatively new to medicine." The article describes in some detail a recent case where family members sought removal of life-sustaining medical treatment, while doctors expressed hesitations.
HealthLawProf Blog offers some commentary here and suggests that, contrary to the impressions of the article, the program at Montefiore is not so revolutionary. (Thanks to Ivy Lapides for the pointer.)
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