ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, March 14, 1994                   TAG: 9403140128
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: CHICAGO                                LENGTH: Short

STUDY: LIVING WILLS REDUCE HOSPITAL COSTS

Older people with living wills or other end-of-life instructions spend about one-third as much on their final hospital stays as those without such provisions, according to a new study.

Living wills are designed to keep patients from getting unwanted treatment - such as life-prolonging therapy when they are dying - if they are unable to communicate their desires.

"Our study shows that respecting a patient's right to choose the kind of medical care received at the end of life also results in a tremendous benefit to society by limiting resources spent on futile and often unwanted attempts to prolong life," said the study's leader, Dr. Christopher V. Chambers of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.

- Associated Press 


 by CNB