Abstract
To Editor.— We read with interest Judith Areen's 1 excellent article concerning rights of family members to make decisions to forgo treatment on behalf of incompetent adult patients. Recent important developments in courts and legislatures deserve to be brought to your readers' attention. Just prior to publication of Ms Areen's article, on June 24, 1987, New Jersey Supreme Court—the first to rule on a right-to-die case ( Quinlan 1976 2 )— expanded on family's authority to make treatment-termination decisions without going to court. 3 In In re Jobes , court held that decisions about a patient's life-sustaining medical treatment are usually best made (when patient cannot and has not made them) by family members or close friends designated by patient. Almost invariably, court wrote, the patient's family has an intimate understanding of patient's medical attitudes and general world view and therefore is in
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