The role of judges in life/death decisions for the neurologically impaired

The Massachusetts supreme court has recently ruled that decisions about withholding care from hopelessly ill, legally incapacitated patients must be made by judges. It clearly rejected the view that families and attending physicians should be empowered to make such decisions. In this respect, the ruling contrasts with that of the Quinlan case and highlights the issue of whether judges or physicians and families are better able to make medically and morally sound decisions respecting this class of patients.