Preface. Introduction; R. Baker, M.A. Strosberg. Part I: The Task Force and the Law. Task Force Report Executive Summary; N.Y.State Task Force on Life and the Law. The New York State Do-Not-Resuscitate Law: a Study of Public Policymaking; M.A. Strosberg. The Legitimation and Regulation of DNR Orders; R. Baker. Part II: The DNR Controversy in New York State. Taking Stock of Policies for Do-Not-Resuscitate Orders: Perception and Practice; T.E. Miller. Where Are we Going with Do Not Resuscitate Orders Policies? J. Greenlaw. New York State's Do-Not-Resuscitate Law; D. Axelrod. New York's Do-Not-Resuscitate Law: Bad Law, Bad Medicine, and Bad Ethics; G. Annas. Edited Transcript of Question & Answer Sessions at Union College Conference. Part III: Case Studies. Implementation of the New York Do-Not-Resuscitate Law at a Teaching Hospital; C. Shearer Antonelli. One Family's Experience with the New York DNR Law; D. Damm O'Brien. When the Ambulance goes Home: a Tragic Flaw in the New York State Do Not Resuscitate Law; T.E. Quill. Implementation of the New York State DNR Law at a Community Hospital; C. Clay. The New York DNR Law and the Disabled: the Experience of the New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities; L.R. Faulkner. Striking a Balance; D. Finley. Part IV: Research. The Do Not Resuscitate Order as Ritual; R. Zussman. New York's Do-Not-Resuscitate Law: Burden or Benefit? R.S. Kamer, J.A. McClung. Does the New York State DNR Law Prevent Medically Inappropriate DNR? J.C. Ahronheim, S. Maheswaran, C. Rosenberg. The Effects of a Hospital Policy and State Legislation on Resuscitation Orders for Geriatric Patients; T.E. Quill, N.M. Bennett. The New York State DNR Law: Views of the Members of the New York Chapter of the American College of Physicians; N. Spritz. The 1988 DNR Reforms: a Comparative Study of the Impact of the New York DNR Law and the JCAHO Accreditation Requirements (The Union College Study); R. Baker, M.A. Strosberg, J. Schmee, I.A. Fein, V. Jonas Dersch, J. Bynum, P. Oates. Differences in Clinicians' Reactions to the New York State DNR; V.J. Dersch. Part V: Retrospection and Reflection. An Assessment of the Union College Study and a Response to Robert Baker's Analysis of the DNR Law; T.E. Miller. A Review of the Empirical Studies of the DNR Law and a Rejoinder to Tracy Miller; R. Baker. Appendices: The Genealogy of New York State's Do-Not-Resuscitate Law. New York Public Health Law Article 29 (1987) &endash; New York State Legislature. Guidelines for Hospitals and Physicians on `Do Not Resuscitate' (1982) &endash; Medical Society of the State of New York. Deciding to Forego Life-Sustaining Treatment (1983, Excerpted) &endash; President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research. Do Not Resuscitate Orders: the Proposed Legislation and Report of the New York State Force on Life and the Law (1986, 1988, Condensed) &endash; N.Y.State Task Force on Life and the Law. Do-Not-Resuscitate Orders: Questions and Answers for Health Care Professionals (1988) &endash; Medical Society of the State of New York, New York State Dept. of Health, Hospital Association of New York State. Letter to New York State Assembly Minority Counsel (1991) &endash; R. Baker, M. Strosberg, L. Digiulio. Amendments to the New York Public Health Law 29-B (1991) &endash; New York State Le