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posted by mrpg on Monday December 04 2017, @03:45PM   Printer-friendly
from the Requiescat-In-Pace dept.

A 70-year-old man with an unusual chest tattoo caused doctors to call for the assistance of ethics consultants:

Emergency medicine doctors in Florida struggled to figure out how to respectfully care for an unconscious 70-year-old man with a chest tattoo that read "Do Not Resuscitate" followed by what appeared to be his signature. In a case report published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, the doctors recounted:

This patient's tattooed DNR request produced more confusion than clarity, given concerns about its legality and likely unfounded beliefs that tattoos might represent permanent reminders of regretted decisions made while the person was intoxicated.

The unresponsive patient was brought to the emergency department by paramedics. He had high blood-alcohol levels and no identification or family with him. After a few hours, hospital staff saw his condition slipping. His blood pressure dropped and acids were building up in his blood. Despite the prominent tattoo, the doctors didn't know if they should trust it. They contacted social workers to try to find his next of kin and made several attempts to revive him enough to get him to confirm his wishes. But the revival attempts failed.

The consultants advised that the tattoo be treated as an authentic preference, and a Do not resuscitate order was written. Later on, the patient's official out-of-hospital DNR order was found, and it matched the preference expressed by the tattoo. The patient ended up dying later that night.

Let this be a lesson to you: Don't get an ironic "Do Not Resuscitate" tattoo.

An Unconscious Patient with a DNR Tattoo (open, DOI: 10.1056/NEJMc1713344) (DX) (PDF)


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  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday December 04 2017, @06:33PM (4 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday December 04 2017, @06:33PM (#605179) Journal

    Heh. It's easy enough to go buy a bracelet, and slip it onto the wife's wrist after she's fallen and can't get up. Then, all the money is MINE MINE MINE!! Well, if the wife had any money . . .

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  • (Score: 2) by HiThere on Monday December 04 2017, @07:07PM (3 children)

    by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Monday December 04 2017, @07:07PM (#605216) Journal

    Those DNR bracelets aren't that easily accessible, and I think that there's generally an audit trail. That said, you could probably order one in her name using her credit card sufficiently in advance if you planned it carefully. But if that's your intent, why bother with something so complicated.

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    • (Score: 2) by EvilSS on Monday December 04 2017, @08:09PM (1 child)

      by EvilSS (1456) Subscriber Badge on Monday December 04 2017, @08:09PM (#605248)

      Those DNR bracelets aren't that easily accessible, and I think that there's generally an audit trail.

      $11.00 but right now has a $4.00 off coupon making it $7.00!! https://www.amazon.com/MyIDDr-Engraved-Medical-Bracelet-Stainless/dp/B01MQM2COM/ [amazon.com]

      • (Score: 2) by HiThere on Tuesday December 05 2017, @01:18AM

        by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday December 05 2017, @01:18AM (#605446) Journal

        I'm a bit shocked, but your link has the price of a DNR bracelet at about $6. Still, ordering from Amazon *does* leave an audit trail, though I have my doubts as to whether anyone would follow it, and it also requires a *bit* of preparation. You'd need to plan about a week ahead of time.

        Still, at $6 there might well be a local source. That I haven't seen one may just mean I haven't been looking.

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    • (Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Monday December 04 2017, @10:17PM

      by Joe Desertrat (2454) on Monday December 04 2017, @10:17PM (#605351)

      I doubt they are going to research the origin of any such bracelet in time to save someone who needs resuscitation. Just make sure it is not traceable to you.