Both the medical and legal worlds are facing the ongoing and fundamental redefining of the boundaries of modern medical practice. In this context, they are called upon, among other things, to manage patients' choices related to the end of their lives.
The management of the modern patient's desire to pre-arrange the limits of their treatment in order to preserve their autonomy has gained particular importance, especially in light of the possibility of falling into a state where they cannot express their will.
Can a previously expressed wish serve as a guide for medical treatment of a patient, particularly regarding decisions about artificial life extension or discontinuation of treatment?
Centering on this question, this issue examines the bioethical and legal considerations arising within the intensive care unit environment, the lack of clear legislative regulation for managing such dilemma situations in Greek law, the choice of many European and non-legislative jurisdictions to incorporate advance directives into their legal system in the form of recognizing the right to prepare a living will and appoint a health proxy, as well as recent relevant case law from the European Court of Human Rights.
The aim of this issue is the interdisciplinary approach to the patient's choices and the testing of their autonomy at the end of life, a multifaceted topic that appropriately comes under the scrutiny of the scientific field of Bioethics.
![Επιλογές Του Ασθενούς Και Ιατρικές Αποφάσεις Στο Τέλος Της Ζωής, Living wills and health care proxies. [Series.]](http://d.scdn.gr/images/sku_main_images/052552/52552330/xlarge_20240418182950_epiloges_tou_asthenous_kai_iatrikes_apofaseis_sto_telos_tis_zois_diathikes_zois_kai_plirexousioi_ygeias_seira_dimosieymata_iatrikou_dikaiou_kai_vioith.jpeg)
