2774: What’s My Name?

[Scorpion]

Originally Posted by Todd

You're both still being pretty ridiculous about the tattoo thing.

"Just type his name in a computer!" There's no central national database containing this information.

"If the doctor sees a Poison tattoo, I guess he has to poison the guy!" Don't be ridiculous. It's not the doctor's job to actively administer a fatal injection. It is a doctor's job to determine to the best of their ability in a short period of time what an unconscious and unresponsive person's wishes were in this specific circumstance. Separate things: active vs. passive.

"My signature is on Elvis; I guess I own him!" Literally nobody's arguing that every single tattoo becomes a legal document. In this case, however, the tattoo has one purpose: to let the doctors know his wishes before they even attempt to revive him.

"There's paperwork for this!" By this reasoning, if a person has a bracelet stating "I am allergic to penicillin" but doesn't have certain paperwork with them at all times--fuck it, you're getting a penicillin injection.

No the allergy bracelets are not comparable to a tattoo, because you wont fucking die from not getting penicillin! If you are going to make an analogy start with making them comparable. One is asking to be let die and one is to avoid a possible fatal condition that is unnecessary.

Any argument giving legal credence to a tattoo is absurd at best and only a little better than any argument that someone having a stupid tattoo earns a death penalty.
If you want a do not resuscitate order honored complete the paperwork and keep it with you. They will be checking your identification and trying to contact your emergency contact so checking having the paperwork in your wallet next to your ID is not a lot extra. The tattoo can only be expected to cue the search for proper documents.