April General Meeting – Guiding Your Future Health Care Through Advance Directives

What treatments do you want to have administered to you if you were involved in an accident and were unable to consent to or decline medical care at the hospital because you were unconscious or otherwise unable to communicate? Who do you want to make health care decisions on your behalf?

Understandably, most people do not want to think about the possibility of sudden illness or events that might require medical treatment or may even lead to death. However, various options may be available to put in writing instructions for one’s future health care and treatment that support agency and empowerment during times of serious injury or illness. These advance directives provide a way for an individual to select an agent for health care to make treatment decisions and guide the agent as to what those decisions should be, based on the individual’s values and preferences.

In this presentation, Professor Carol Suzuki will discuss legal documents, including living wills and powers of attorney for health care, that individuals can create to better ensure that their wishes are honored and the medical care provided is according to their values.

Speaker’s Portfolio 
Dr. Carol Suzuki serves as the Keleher & McLeod Professor at the University of New Mexico School of Law, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Areas of scholarship include AIDS law; client counseling; and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. She teaches Torts and is a co-author of TORT LAW AND PRACTICE. She also serves as Faculty Advisor for the NEW MEXICO LAW REVIEW, a legal journal that publishes professional and student scholarly articles. She is a supervising attorney in the Community Lawyering Clinic, where she focuses on family law, immigration, and juvenile delinquency. Professor Suzuki earned her J.D. from Columbia Law School and her bachelor’s degree from Stanford University.