… to live, and to die

An updated directive, and clarity with family and doctors, will aid a patient’s final wish

By Vicki Viotti

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Oct 21, 2012

~~<p>People around the country are watching Hawaii for a court decision concerning Karen Okada. In 1998, the now-95- year-old woman had drawn up a document known informally as a "living will," declining efforts to prolong her life artificially. The problem: That document clashed with what her family said would be her current wishes.</p>
<p>Those who file the current version of what's now called an "advance care directive" may not have this problem because of revisions in the law, but the Okada documents predated all that. The interesting legal question the Hawaii Circuit Court must decide is: What directive will prevail?</p>
~~

People around the country are watching Hawaii for a court decision concerning Karen Okada. In 1998, the now-95- year-old woman had drawn up a document known informally as a "living will," declining efforts to prolong her life artificially. The problem: That document clashed with what her family said would be her current wishes.

Those who file the current version of what's now called an "advance care directive" may not have this problem because of revisions in the law, but the Okada documents predated all that. The interesting legal question the Hawaii Circuit Court must decide is: What directive will prevail? Login for more...