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Public Policy of the Brain Injury Network
Policy approved by the Board 10-18-08
Removal of Life Support:
In the absence of a living will to that effect by the patient, hospitals and ethics committees of hospitals should not have the authority to arbitrarily remove life support from a patient. If there is no written patient directive, the hospital should be required by law to seek and get the approval of the next of kin to remove life-support. If the legal next of kin objects, ethics committees of hospitals should not have the authority to remove life support from said patients.