An advance directive is a legal document that takes effect if someone is unable to make decisions due to illness or incapacity. Several different types of advance directives exist. Some, such as a living will, give instructions on which measures can be used to prolong life. Others simply name a surrogate decision-maker for medical questions. Different
Alcohol is a set of chemical compounds consumed as a liquid by individuals for its intoxicating effect or used in industrial projects for its other unique properties.
Absent any specific regulation, alcohol is treated like all other forms of personal property. However, the general rights of property are subject to the police power regulations of the state, local, and federal governments.
Alternative reproductive technology (ART), also known as assisted reproductive technology, can be defined as an alternative to traditional reproduction. It is also a term that encompasses in vitro fertilization, sperm donation, ovum donation, and the use of a surrogate carrier.
See: Alternative Reproductive Technology (ART).
[Last reviewed in November of 2024 by the Wex Definitions Team]
As noted in the Supreme Court of New Mexico case Morris v. Brandenburg, assisted suicide is the act of actively aiding other people in the taking of their own lives. Physician-assisted suicide, a subset of assisted suicide, involves the assistance of a physician.
COBRA, or the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, is a federal statute, passed in 1985 that provides employees and their families the right to continue group health benefits under an
Comfort care, also called palliative care, is medical care designed not to cure, but to reduce a patient’s pain and keep him or her comfortable. This kind of medical care focuses on the patient’s quality of life, usually toward his or her end of life. As explained by The National Institute on Aging, a patient can receive palliative care along with treatment intended to cure their serious illness(es).
Commerce refers generally to the activity of exchanging products, goods, and services for financial gain. The word commerce usually is used to mean economic activity broadly on a national or other large scale. Commerce can be used in many contexts but is most commonly used by governments in their constitutions and laws to define the authority of the government to regulate commerce activity.
The Commerce Clause refers to Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution, which gives Congress the power “to regulate commerce with foreign nations, among states, and with the Indian tribes.”
