The family will terminate medical treatment for financial reasons.

Usually, decisions about terminating medical treatment are made by doctors, acting on any wishes the patient has expressed, in consultation with the patient's family.

The ruling set up procedures the office must follow once a request is made to terminate life-support treatment.

The decision said the existence of "a constitutionally recognized right to die" had been signaled by the Supreme Court, once in a 1990 ruling that allowed patients to terminate unwanted medical treatment.

It is my understanding that the Cruzan case is about terminating medical treatment, which would result in Ms. Cruzan's dying, not about intervening to kill her.

Many state courts have invoked the right to privacy in finding constitutional protection for the right to terminate medical treatment.

In the Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health case, the Supreme Court held that the patient had a right of privacy to terminate medical treatment.

Although declared brain dead a few hours later, he was kept on life support until his father arrived from Sweden late the next day and his parents gave their permission to terminate treatment.

And it is the doctors who, despite the financial penalties their actions incur, often ask for ethics committee help in terminating futile treatment.

For example, we accept the right of proxies to terminate life-sustaining treatment, despite the obvious potential for abuse, because the reasons for doing so outweigh the risks.