Chloe Erikson

Chloe Erikson is a 22-year-old woman who has been struggling with anorexia since the age of 16. After losing both of her parents in a car accident at that age, Chloe began to suffer from depression and an eating disorder. Although she has been receiving psychological treatment for almost six years, she has not been able to lead a normal life. Despite the fact that eating disorder treatment programs isolated Chole from every day life, they did not succeed in treating her mental illness; each time she is released from treatment, her weight drops precipitously and she must be re-committed within a few months. Chloe hates being in treatment, but she can’t control her disease sufficiently to stay healthy and independent. When she is not in an in-patient eating disorder treatment facility, she lives with her sister Heather Moriarty and Heather’s husband, John, who love Chloe and are fortunately able to support her financially.

            Following release from her last in-patient stay, Chloe decided she wanted to obtain an advance directive and healthcare proxy stating that the next time her weight dropped to a dangerous level, she did not want to be sent to a hospital ICU by ambulance if she collapsed. Although when her weight reaches a life-threatening low, Chloe is vulnerable to collapse and fatal heart attack caused by electrolyte imbalance, she has decided that dying as a result of such an episode would be preferable to her than returning to in-patient treatment. It’s not that Chloe has become suicidal—if there were a way for her to maintain a healthy weight without being committed she would do so, but her disease is uncontrollable, and in her view, returning to in-patient therapy that never seems to work is no longer and acceptable option.

            Chloe’s requires has greatly upset her care team and her family. Her sister is adamant that she not be allowed to obtain the directive she wants and won’t agree to Chloe’s wishes as her healthcare proxy because she can’t bear the idea of her sister dying at such a young age and in such a tragic and preventable way. Chloe’s internist, Dr. Shankar, is also opposed to the directive, because he feels that 22 is too early for a person to give up on life, and that anorexia is a mental disease that renders Chloe incompetent to make such an important medical decision for herself. However Chloe’s psychiatrist, Dr. Snyder, insists that despite her disease, Chloe is sufficiently competent to make her own treatment choices.