Vegetative Adult Son: Surrogate Care Decision

The case asks who should guide care when an adult patient cannot speak for himself.

Halstead and Manning disagree after the patient's mother makes a decision about his care.

Surrogate decisions should be grounded in the patient's known wishes and best interests, not only family distress or clinician preference.

A real team would confirm neurologic status, prognosis, decision-maker authority, advance directives, care goals, and ethics support.

Management may include family meetings, neurology or critical-care input, palliative care, ethics consultation, and documentation of goals of care.