Premise of MOLST

The Massachusetts Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST) program is founded on essential legal and ethical principles:

• Individuals have the right to accept or refuse medically indicated treatment (including life-sustaining treatments).
• Patient autonomy must be respected. This is the right of patients to make decisions about their medical care without their health care providers trying to influence their decisions or make the decisions for them.
• Patient self-determination.