CARE CHOICES Medical Technology: How Much Is Too Much? (NAPSA)—Modern medicine now allows physicians to maintain virtually every system and organ in a person’s body. While medical breakthroughs F have led to longer, healthier lives for LIFE. ANDDE cru Lean they also raise own Treas the question of how cone much technology is too much technology. L.L. BASTA, M.D. For example, a consequence of medical pee breakthroughsis the fact that tens of thousands of Americans remain in vegetative states or lead a life of confusion and total dependence. A new book, Life and Death on Your Own Terms (Prometheus Books, $26.00), addresses such issues. The book’s author, L.L. Basta, M.D., presents a revised living will called an Advance Care Plan Document. The document is legally binding andlets individuals express their desired medical treatment for end-of-life care. Basta says that the new document is needed because living wills are written in vague legalese and fail to provide the physician with the patient’s specific medical preferences for end of life care. The Advance Care Plan Document contains that specific language that is relevant to today’s medical technology. The document is included in the book or can be downloaded for free from www.p-grace.org. Royalties from the book will go towards Project GRACE, a non-profit foun- dation that promotes better medical care at the endoflife.
