Rejection of Life-Sustaining Treatment Approved

The Orphans’ Court approved the termination of life sustaining treatment for the alleged incapacitated person (AIP) at the request of the daughter of the AIP and over the objections of the son of the AIP based on testimony of several doctors, including a doctor consulted by counsel appointed for the AIP, that the AIP had suffered severe brain damage, was in a permanent comatose state, and would continue to decline physically due to lack of activity. The court found that the AIP’s Catholic faith was not determinative, that the son’s testimony that his mother would want medical treatment if she were “knocked out” was not a credible indication of her wishes, and that the substituted judgment standard required the conclusion that the AIP would choose to reject life-sustaining determine under these circumstances. In re: Estate of F.K., an Alleged Incapacitated Person, 1 Fid.Rep.4th 316 (Bucks O.C. 2023), aff’d 1415 EDA 2023 (Pa. Super. 8/22/2023) (non-precedential), pet. for app. den., 452 MAL 2023 (Pa. 10/4/2023).

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