Geriatrics and the Law: Understanding Patient Rights and Professional Responsibilities

Older individuals encounter a panoply of legal vicissitudes, as well as other types of challenges, in their daily lives. For older persons needing medical services, it frequently is impossible to separate the clinical aspects of care from the legal (as well as ethical, financial, and public policy) elements. Medical care of the elderly is intimately affected and extensively governed by the broad array of legal considerations that are applicable to the delivery of health services in general, and many of these considerations often are exacerbated in the care of older persons. Additionally, a variety of specific government programs has arisen for which the elderly are the primary or exclusive...