Legal Briefing: Patient Self Determination Act

I just finished my latest “Legal Briefing” column for the Journal of Clinical Ethics.  (I can't believe this is my already my fifth year.)  This one covers recent legal developments involving the Patient Self Determination Act (PSDA).  



Enacted in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Cruzan decision in 1990, the PSDA remains a seminal event in the development of U.S. bioethics public policy.  But the PSDA has long been criticized as inadequate and ineffective.  Finally, recent legislative and regulatory changes promise to revitalize and rejuvenate the law.  I categorize new legal developments concerning the PSDA into the following seven sections:



1.  Background and History

2.  Rules and Requirements

3.  Criticism and Challenges

4.  Failed Efforts to Amend the PSDA

5.  Personalize Your Care Act of 2013

6.  New Regulations and Guidance

7.  Expanded Enforcement