To: CLICK41 --INTERNET [log in to unmask]

*** Reply to note of 03/27/97 01:03
Deborah:

The best place to start is probebly the Alberta Law Reform Institute's
booklet on 'Advance Directives and Substitute Decision-Making in Personal
Health Care. Report #11, November 1991.
When people are mentally competent they can make the decisions they want.
The problem arises when they become incompetent either temporarily or
permanently (lets say because of a cardiac arrest or stroke).
Who gives consent for them to be treated? They can't. Alberta law allows
for decisions to be made by a legally appointed guardian, but most people
don't have one.  The law requires a physician to get consent to treatment,
but does not provide a mechanism to obtain it (except in the case of a
 guardian).

So I see the legislation as a necessary fix of a problem, rather than a means
to save money. Hope this helps.

Howard Platt, M.B.,Ch.B.,
These are my own opinions and may not be those of my employer.