Delays Frequent When Surrogates Make DNR Decisions

Delays are Frequent When Surrogates Make DNR Decisions - Health Blog - WSJ: The study, published in the July issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, found that when a surrogate had to evaluate whether or not to sign a DNR, the decision process took significantly longer than when patients decided for themselves. That’s important because the patients who had designated a surrogate were sicker and the decision whether to resuscitate might arise sooner. Among the patients who died, those with a surrogate had a shorter time period between writing the DNR order and time of death compared to patients who made their own decisions.