Is an adult child, who has Enduring Power of Attorney for a mentally
incompetent and elderly parent, legally permitted in the state of Pa.
to make a decision to discontinue life sustaining treatment(s) IF the
parent is conscious,in a non-vegetative state, and has not expressed a
desire to end their life?

Hi leonapayne-ga,

It appears that the answer to your question is "no", a person acting
with Enduring Power of Attorney in Pennsylvania does not have the
legal right to make such a decision. In a tutorial entitled LIVING
WILLS: UNDERSTANDING PENNSYLVANIA'S NEW LIVING WILL AND ITS
IMPLICATIONS ON MEDICAL CARE (last updated August 20, 2002) by the
Gates, Halbruner and Hatch PC law firm of Lemoyne, PA,  the following
passage pertains: "The absence of a Living Will does not give rise to
any presumption as to the intent of the person to consent to or refuse
the initiation or termination of life-sustaining treatment. In the
event a person has not signed a Living Will, his family will have to
resort to Pennsylvania Law and court cases in existence prior to
April, 1992."

More specific to your question, the Durable Power of Attorney "is a
legal document which a competent adult may sign to authorize another
person (a spouse, family member, or friend) to make decisions, or to
take action, on his behalf. A Durable Power of Attorney for Health
Care is a specific type of durable power of attorney which allows the
attorney-in-fact to authorize the person's admission into a hospital,
nursing facility, residential or assisted-living facility, and to
enter into agreements for the person's care. In addition, the
attorney-in-fact may authorize medical and surgical procedures on the
person's behalf."

However, and HERE'S THE ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION, "Pennsylvania law
relating to durable powers of attorney does not authorize an
attorney-in-fact to refuse or request the withdraw of life-sustaining
treatment on the person's behalf. Thus, a hospital or other heath care
provider will probably refuse to honor a decision by an
attorney-in-fact to refuse or withdraw life-sustaining treatment."
http://www.gateslawfirm.com/newsletter/v1n1.htm

From the Care & Consequences website: "As of this writing, courts in
Pennsylvania have not decided if the law permits an attorney-in-fact
to refuse treatment on your behalf, especially if the attorney-in-fact
is refusing potentially beneficial care."
http://www.careproject.net/pa_declar.htm

Now, as in so many matters under the law, there may be exceptions.
According to Pennsylvania statute, the person acting under Durable
Power of Attorney may, under certain conditions, act upon specific
instructions in the Power of Attorney document to instruct medical
personnel to withhold tube feeding, hydration, blood, etc., but that
can only be done if it is specifically authorized in the Durable Power
of Attorney and only if  "(1) a copy is provided to the attending
physician; and (2) the declarant is determined by the attending
physician to be incompetent and in a terminal condition or in a state
of permanent unconsciousness."

Since I do not know what provisions are in the Durable Power of
Attorney in your specific case, nor do I know if the patient has been
diagnosed with a "terminal condition", I cannot speculate as to
whether it might be legally permissible to withhold life sustaining
treatments. Here is the Pennsylvania statute which applies:
http://imc.gsm.com/demos/dddemo/consult/dpa/dpa_pa.htm

As always, Google Answers researchers are not professionally
authorized to provide medical or legal advice. A qualified
professional should be consulted before taking any action of a medical
or legal nature.

Having asserted that qualifier, I recognize the difficulty of your
situation and wish you the best as you deal with it. If you have any
questions regarding this answer, please use the Clarify Answer feature
to request additional feedback before rating it.

Thank you for your question,

ericynot-ga