•A 33-year-old man with advanced AIDS is brought by ambulance to the hospital after collapsing on the street. Paramedics resuscitated and intubated the patient for ventilatory support and transported him to the hospital while in an incoherent, agitated state. Physical examination and laboratory studies confirm an extensive pneumonia involving the entire left lung. Shortly afterwards, his designee demands that the patient be taken off the ventilator. The designee produces a copy of the patient’s living will indicating the patient wishes no life support and that his designee is to make all medical decisions if he becomes incapacitated. The patient’s previous hospital record contains a copy of the same living will. Which of the following is the best course of action?
( A ) Maintain the patient on the ventilator •
( B ) Contact the patient’s parents •
( C ) Contact the hospital’s attorney •
( D ) Remove sedation and wean the patient •
( E ) Provide sedation and pain medication and extubate the patient
e
E ) Provide sedation and pain medication and extubate the patient
e
e
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E
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Provide sedation and pain medication and extubate the patient