How does a Medical Power of Attorney differ from a Directive to Physicians?
A Medical Power of Attorney and a Directive to Physicians are completely unrelated instruments. A Medical Power of Attorney authorizes someone to make medical treatment decisions for you when you are unable to make those decisions for yourself. It is used in situations where you are not imminently and irreversibly terminal, but rather you are simply unable to make your own decisions because you are unconscious or otherwise mentally impaired. The Directive to Physicians is much more narrow in scope: it applies only when your physician determines you are expected to die within a short time regardless of treatment, or that you are permanently unable to care for yourself and will die without life-sustaining treatment.
