Michigan Laws 333.5652 – Legislative findings; Michigan dignified death act
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(1) The legislature finds all of the following:
(a) That patients face a unique set of circumstances and decisions once they have been diagnosed as having a reduced life expectancy due to advanced illness.
Terms Used In Michigan Laws 333.5652
- Advanced illness: except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, means a medical or surgical condition with significant functional impairment that is not reversible by curative therapies and that is anticipated to progress toward death despite attempts at curative therapies or modulation, the time course of which may or may not be determinable through reasonable medical prognostication. See Michigan Laws 333.5653
- Care: includes treatment, control, transportation, confinement, and isolation in a facility or other location. See Michigan Laws 333.5101
- Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
- Medical treatment: means a treatment including, but not limited to, palliative care treatment, or a procedure, medication, surgery, a diagnostic test, or a hospice plan of care that may be ordered, provided, or withheld or withdrawn by a health professional or a health facility under generally accepted standards of medical practice and that is not prohibited by law. See Michigan Laws 333.5653
- Patient: means an individual who is under the care of a physician. See Michigan Laws 333.5653
- state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories belonging to the United States; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the district and territories. See Michigan Laws 8.3o
(b) That published studies indicate that patients with reduced life expectancy due to advanced illnesses fear that in end-of-life situations they could receive unwanted aggressive medical treatment.
(c) That patients with reduced life expectancy due to advanced illnesses are often unaware of their legal rights, particularly with regard to controlling end-of-life decisions.
(d) That the free flow of information among health care providers, patients, and patients’ families can give patients and their families a sense of control over their lives, ease the stress involved in coping with a reduced life expectancy due to advanced illness, and provide needed guidance to all involved in determining the appropriate variety and degree of medical intervention to be used.
(e) That health care providers should be encouraged to initiate discussions with their patients regarding advance medical directives during initial consultations, annual examinations, and hospitalizations, at diagnosis of a chronic illness, and when a patient transfers from 1 health care setting to another.
(2) In affirmation of the tradition in this state recognizing the integrity of patients and their desire for a humane and dignified death, the Michigan legislature enacts the “Michigan dignified death act”. In doing so, the legislature recognizes that a well-considered body of common law exists detailing the relationship between health care providers and their patients. This act is not intended to abrogate any part of that common law. This act is intended to increase awareness of the right of a patient who has a reduced life expectancy due to advanced illness to make decisions to receive, continue, discontinue, or refuse medical treatment. It is hoped that by doing so, the legislature will encourage better communication between patients with reduced life expectancy due to advanced illnesses and health care providers to ensure that the patient’s final days are meaningful and dignified.