Your patient is a sixty year old women who has two adult chi…
Your patient is a sixty year old women who has two adult children. Since her divorce twenty years ago, she lived with her boyfriend. The women’s children live out of state and are unavailable to make decisions. The patient’s long term boyfriend is present at the bedside and insist that he and the patient are married under common law because they have lived together for twenty years. The patient is in a medically include coma and needs a simple but urgent procedure which requires informed consent. The medical team is unable to reach the patient’s children. Is it ethically and legally acceptable to allow the patient’s boyfriend to give consent on for the procedure?