Joey went on a ski trip with friends and fell ill / injured. Luckily, Joey’s family had a Healthcare Power of Attorney in place.
Joey’s medical mystery is getting under control. The scans and bloodwork indicate that Joey may have a rare ailment that will require Joey to stay in a medically induced coma for a while. On the bright side, there is a cutting edge and promising new treatment that carries some risk and has just left trials.
Fortunately, the medical team treating Joey has a physician who has an intense interest in this particular rare disease and knows about the cutting edge treatment. The risk of the new treatment is mainly in older patients, but the clinical results only look moderately good on paper. The hospital legal team wants informed consent for new cutting edge treatments such as this one, both because of liability and because insurers sometimes balk at paying for the newest treatment.
Without informed consent, the doctors must choose the most conservative treatment which has only a 40% complete success rate, but does not carry as much risk as the newer treatment that has an 80% success rate for full recovery. The doctors really would like to consult with someone to get informed consent and insurance information. Not all insurance carriers will cover this new treatment and it can be a little expensive.
Thank goodness that you consulted with a Personal Family Lawyer and you have a copy of Joey’s health care power of attorney that was prepared upon Joey’s 18th birthday ready to send to the hospital legal team. The hospital legal team is satisfied with the HIPPA release provisions in the health care documents that you prepared with Joey. The aggressive treatment is a great option for Joey and you are able to give the informed consent needed for Joey to receive it (and provide assurance that the hospital will be paid). Joey recovers 100% and the new treatment was actually covered by insurance after an appeal. Joey is home only a few days late and returns to finish the school year with honors and choose between several great colleges.
Joey decides to take a “gap year” in Europe.