Phys Clinical Cases · general-medicine

Medical Ethics, Capacity and Consent — DCE Clinical Case

DCE long-case clinical station: comprehensive assessment of a 78-year-old woman with advanced Alzheimer disease and aspiration pneumonia whose enduring guardian son demands intensive care the team considers futile — covering the capacity assessment (two-stage test, four functional abilities), the best-interests framework (substituted judgement standard), the goals-of-care conversation with the son, the ceiling of treatment (do not resuscitate but do not abandon), the role of the substitute decision-maker, and the escalation pathway to the guardianship tribunal — structured for FRACP DCE and MRCP PACES.