Unrepresented Patients - Better Decision Making in Maryland

I offered brief testimony (about 90 minutes in) yesterday to the Maryland House of Delegates Health Committee on H.B. 1323, which would authorize Hospital Surrogate Committees for unrepresented patients.

The hospital association suggested making these committees optional, so hospitals need form one only if they want. After all these committees are large. And they require training and reporting. 

The right to life group called these committees "death panels," because they certainly will authorize life-sustaining treatment to be withheld or withdrawn from vulnerable patients. But the committees are designed to mitigate bias and conflicts of interest.