For years, advance medical directives, popularly known as living wills, have been promoted as giving people control over what happens to them at “end of life”, i.e., when they are in dire medical straits. (1) It is hard to disagree with the concept. Certainly, people have the right to refuse treatment they don’t find helpful … Continue reading Lisa Blumberg: Getting Beyond Advance Medical Directives
Good news! Following intervention by attorneys, the Minnesota hospital that we previously reported had planned to stop providing oxygen to a woman with lung cancer decided to follow her wishes to continue treatment. This goes to show, as so many people with disabilities have experienced, that when there’s a power imbalance operating against you, get legal/advocate … Continue reading Update: Minnesota Hospital Agrees to Continue Oxygen for Catie
Friday night, I got a phone call from a woman who said that a Minnesota hospital had stated its plan for Monday at 1:00 pm to discontinue providing oxygen to her friend, Catie, a woman with lung cancer who stated that she wants to live and keep getting oxygen. NDY sometimes gets calls like this … Continue reading What Can We Do When A Hospital Plans To Involuntarily Withdraw Life Support?
Readers of this blog will hopefully remember the story of Haleigh Poutre, a child in Massachusetts who was abused and then neglected, failed and abandoned by just about every professional whose job it was to act to safeguard her welfare and safety. She became the subject of a life and death* court battle that sanctioned … Continue reading Haleigh Poutre’s New Life and the Flawed Lessons People are Taking Away From Her Story
