Going to hospital after attempt but refusing treatment

[lopsidedcrawdad1]

I came across an article discussing a woman who came into the E.R. with this note. She was allowed to refuse treatment and died.

To whom this may concern, if I come into hospital regarding taking an overdose or any attempt of my life, I would like for NO lifesaving treatment to be given. I would appreciate if you could continue to give medicines to help relieve my discomfort, painkillers, oxygen etc. I would hope these wishes will be carried out without loads of questioning.

Please be assured that I am 100% aware of the consequences of this and the probable outcome of drinking anti-freeze, eg death in 95-99% of cases and if I survive then kidney failure, I understand and accept them and will take 100% responsibility for this decision.

I am aware that you may think that because I call the ambulance I therefore want treatment. THIS IS NOT THECASE! I do however want to be comfortable as nobody want to die alone and scared and without going into details there are loads of reasons I do not want to die at home which I realise that you will not understand and I apologise for this.

Please understand that I definitely don't want any form of Ventilation, resuscitation or dialysis, these are my wishes, please respect and carry them out.


Part of my new plan is to take deathcap mushrooms and go into the hospital with a note like this about a day after ingesting them. The only thing I would consent to is pain meds and id hopefully be able to die a somewhat peaceful death with time to say goodbye to loved ones. I wonder why more people havent done something similar. (Attempting then going to hospital for comfort but refusing life saving treatment.)

 

[John Ryder]

I came across an article discussing a woman who came into the E.R. with this note. She was allowed to refuse treatment and died.

To whom this may concern, if I come into hospital regarding taking an overdose or any attempt of my life, I would like for NO lifesaving treatment to be given. I would appreciate if you could continue to give medicines to help relieve my discomfort, painkillers, oxygen etc. I would hope these wishes will be carried out without loads of questioning.

Please be assured that I am 100% aware of the consequences of this and the probable outcome of drinking anti-freeze, eg death in 95-99% of cases and if I survive then kidney failure, I understand and accept them and will take 100% responsibility for this decision.

I am aware that you may think that because I call the ambulance I therefore want treatment. THIS IS NOT THECASE! I do however want to be comfortable as nobody want to die alone and scared and without going into details there are loads of reasons I do not want to die at home which I realise that you will not understand and I apologise for this.

Please understand that I definitely don't want any form of Ventilation, resuscitation or dialysis, these are my wishes, please respect and carry them out.


Part of my new plan is to take deathcap mushrooms and go into the hospital with a note like this about a day after ingesting them. The only thing I would consent to is pain meds and id hopefully be able to die a somewhat peaceful death with time to say goodbye to loved ones. I wonder why more people havent done something similar. (Attempting then going to hospital for comfort but refusing life saving treatment.)

Depending on where you are I think the issue is that hospitals simply may not honor this. In the U.S. for instance EMTs regard themselves under no obligation to honor DNR forms at scene, wristbands etc and will basically look and say "oh, cute, take it up with the hospital"

 

[HerculePoirot]

In which country is this story happening?

 

[Praestat_Mori]

Depending on your country of residence this may be possible to refuse life-prolonging measures.

 

[lopsidedcrawdad1]

In which country is this story happening?

That story specifically is from 2007 in the U.K.

 

[nessun_nome]

I came across an article discussing a woman who came into the E.R. with this note. She was allowed to refuse treatment and died.

To whom this may concern, if I come into hospital regarding taking an overdose or any attempt of my life, I would like for NO lifesaving treatment to be given. I would appreciate if you could continue to give medicines to help relieve my discomfort, painkillers, oxygen etc. I would hope these wishes will be carried out without loads of questioning.

Please be assured that I am 100% aware of the consequences of this and the probable outcome of drinking anti-freeze, eg death in 95-99% of cases and if I survive then kidney failure, I understand and accept them and will take 100% responsibility for this decision.

I am aware that you may think that because I call the ambulance I therefore want treatment. THIS IS NOT THECASE! I do however want to be comfortable as nobody want to die alone and scared and without going into details there are loads of reasons I do not want to die at home which I realise that you will not understand and I apologise for this.

Please understand that I definitely don't want any form of Ventilation, resuscitation or dialysis, these are my wishes, please respect and carry them out.


Part of my new plan is to take deathcap mushrooms and go into the hospital with a note like this about a day after ingesting them. The only thing I would consent to is pain meds and id hopefully be able to die a somewhat peaceful death with time to say goodbye to loved ones. I wonder why more people havent done something similar. (Attempting then going to hospital for comfort but refusing life saving treatment.)

I think that although you may be able to refuse treatment whilst conscious, the instant you become unconscious the medical team might decide you no longer have the means to make decisions. At that point they might decide to treat you.

Deathcap mushrooms is a pretty slow and unpleasant death. Are you sure you want to go that way?

 

[locked*n*loaded]

I agree with the others that it depends on the country you reside and the laws of that country. There may be issues with such a "note" such as how does anyone actually know you wrote it? Odds are that none of the people in the hospital knows you or your handwriting, even if you sign the note. It isn't even as easy as that. A note would have to be verified as being written by you, and that would take handwriting analysis, experts in the field, some type of judicial proceeding. They can't just take something like that at face value.

 

[Stormy Raine]

I don't think the US would honor this, it's a liability and the family can later sue. I don't suggest anyone do this. I begged my doctor to make me a DNR and he refused and said I was too young. I suggest stay at home and have your own supply of medicine.

 

[lopsidedcrawdad1]

Depending on where you are I think the issue is that hospitals simply may not honor this. In the U.S. for instance EMTs regard themselves under no obligation to honor DNR forms at scene, wristbands etc and will basically look and say "oh, cute, take it up with the hospital

Youre absolutely right about that. They would have to see a DNR on file. They wouldnt honor a wristband, tattoo, or verbal assertion. If I were to follow through with this plan however, I dont think theres anything an emt could even do for death cap poisoning. It would be much to late for a stomach pump to do anything. I suppose they could start trying to treat me with charcoal but even with that, my odds of survival wouldnt be great as long as I wait enough time after ingestion. My liver would just slowly die over several days to a week. At a certain point, only a liver transplant would be able to save me. It can take months for people that actually want a liver to get one so I find it hard to believe theyd be able to line that up in such a short time frame with me refusing. Also I dont think id call an ambulance either. Id probably just walk into the ER, tell them my liver is failing, refuse to tell them why or that I took anything, and refuse any life saving treatment. Even if they didnt honor my wishes, if I wait enough time, id still most likely die.

I agree with the others that it depends on the country you reside and the laws of that country. There may be issues with such a "note" such as how does anyone actually know you wrote it? Odds are that none of the people in the hospital knows you or your handwriting, even if you sign the note. It isn't even as easy as that. A note would have to be verified as being written by you, and that would take handwriting analysis, experts in the field, some type of judicial proceeding. They can't just take something like that at face value.

I dont think that's necessarily true. Especially if I told them that I wrote the note, and verbally communicated everything that was in it.

I think that although you may be able to refuse treatment whilst conscious, the instant you become unconscious the medical team might decide you no longer have the means to make decisions. At that point they might decide to treat you.

Deathcap mushrooms is a pretty slow and unpleasant death. Are you sure you want to go that way?

Thats kinda the whole point of going to the hospital and getting pain meds haha. Death caps sound absolutely miserable to die from without being in a hospital setting.

I think that although you may be able to refuse treatment whilst conscious, the instant you become unconscious the medical team might decide you no longer have the means to make decisions. At that point they might decide to treat you.

Deathcap mushrooms is a pretty slow and unpleasant death. Are you sure you want to go that way?

Also I do think youre wrong about the first part. If you were right, DNR orders would be useless because they could just say "you made the decision to the sign the DNR and refuse treatment while conscious but now youre not so were gonna save you." If a person is found to be competent, they are able to make decisions about future treatment that must be honored.