Aside from getting a good lawyer who shows well at the dog and pony show, a well documented evaluation of the patient's medical decision making capacity may come in handy. This assessment should consider the patient's ability to:
- understand their medical problem
- understand pros/cons of proposed treatment
- understand pros/cons of refusing proposed treatment
- understand pros/cons of alternative treatments
- and to make a decision free of depression, delusions, and psychosis
These pointers are derived from a formal, structured assessment tool used to evaluate capacity, the Aid to Capacity Evaluation (ACE) , conceived at the University of Toronto Centre for Bioethics.
Source
Tunzi, M. MD. "Can the Patient Decide? Evaluating Patient Capacity in Practice." Am Fam Physician 2001; 64: 299-306.