What responsibilities does a physian have towards difficulty faimly who interfere with a patients medical care

Question

What responsibilities does a physian have towards difficulty faimly who interfere with a patients medical care

Answer 1

If the patient is capable of expressing his/her wishes, the family cannot interfere with the care -- they are merely "visitors" to the hospital, and can be "invited to leave" by security.  Obviously, the physician will have no responsibilities whatsoever towards the family.

If the patient is not capable of expressing his/her wishes, and there is no Advanced Directives (living will), then a substitute decision maker is needed to make decisions for the patient.  Usually (but not always), this is someone from the family, and the physician will have the same responsibilities (like updating patient's progress, explaining findings, and obtaining consent for procedures) towards the substitute decision-maker as the patient him/herself.

Finally, if the hospital has reasons to believe that the family is not acting in the patient's best interest, the hospital can apply for a court-appointed public guardian as the substitute decision-maker.  However, this is rare.