“Do Not Resuscitate” Tattoos: Adequate Evidence of a Patient’s Intent to Die?

Abstract

In late 2017, paramedics brought an unconscious, unidentified, and unaccompanied seventy-year-old man to the Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida. The man’s blood alcohol content was elevated, and he had a history of diabetes mellitus, atrial fibrillation, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Upon the man’s chest was a tattoo that read “DO NOT RESUSCITATE.” The tattoo also included his signature. This left his doctors with a legal and ethical dilemma: Is a “do not resuscitate” (DNR) tattoo a valid advance directive?