The healthcare field upholds a strong priority of patient autonomy in medical decisions. However, in cases where mental illness creates an inability for the patient to make informed choices, the responsibility is then allocated to a “surrogate decision maker, or proxy” (Chaet). The designated proxy is then faced with a moral dilemma between the known desires and beliefs of the patient and the patient’s interests surrounding the outcome of the medical decision, in the case where the two choices conflict. Ultimately, under the study of ethical rationalism and utilitarianism, which form the…