Advance Medical Directive: Patients’ Dilemma

Mohd Zamre Mohd Zahir, Ramalinggam Rajamanickam, Nur Khalidah Dahlan, Haniwarda Yaakob, Husyairi Harunarashid

Abstract


An Advance Medical Directive (AMD) is an individual’s instructions concerning his decision for future treatment. AMD was developed because of medical technologies’ growing complexity and widespread acceptance. There is a concern relating to AMD. While implementing AMD, there is a dilemma about the law that will bind it. Thus, this paper aims to analyse the law and ethical aspects concerning AMD in Malaysia. This paper adopts a qualitative methodology. The authors analyse the kinds of literature from primary and secondary sources on AMD, medical law and ethics. This article discovered that while discussing AMD in Malaysia, Articles 17 and 18 of the Malaysian Medical Council’s Consent for Treatment of Patients by Registered Medical Practitioners (MMC) can be relied on. These provisions are seen as too general and need further clarification. The laws regarding AMD vary from state to state. For example, in the United States, the 1990 Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA) encourages everyone to make decisions ahead of time about the sorts and extent of medical care they want to accept or decline if they become unable to do so due to illness. As a result, this paper concludes that it is critical for Malaysia to have clearer AMD guidelines.

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References


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