Right-to-die issues are no longer confined to the back corridors of hospitals or the front pages of newspapers that trumpet news of Dr. Kevorkian's latest assisted suicide. A perverse combination of high-tech medicine, consumerism, demographic trends, and economic realities is forcing increasing numbers of Americans and their families to deal with end-of life decisions—decisions that were the exclusive purview of physicians in years past. As living wills proliferate and baby boomers age, the debate is bound to intensify, forcing our public policy system to face—and attempt to...

Many Americans, before they die, will go through a stage where they are unable to make competent decisions about their own life-sustaining medical treatment. More and more, family members and care givers are facing these difficult decisions in their stead, becoming engulfed in questions about personal wishes, medical ethics, state and federal law, and quality of life. Drawing on provocative case studies, personal interviews, and detailed research, James Hoefler examines the medical, legal, ethical, and clinical aspects of such right-to-die issues. Beginning with the legal struggle of a woman...