Category Archives: life-sustaining treatment

Texas Mother Fights To Save Her 9-Month-Old Baby From Hospital’s Futility Judgment

futile care, futility, involuntary euthanasia, life-sustaining treatment, Our News & Commentary Blog, texas, Tinslee Lewis,

Nine month old Tinslee Lewis was scheduled to die today (11/11/19), based on a Fort Worth hospital’s decision to remove her ventilator under the Texas futility law. The nation’s most infamous futility law provides for ten days notice and you’re dead — unless another willing medical provider takes over. From news video, it does not … Continue reading Texas Mother Fights To Save Her 9-Month-Old Baby From Hospital’s Futility Judgment →

Update: Minnesota Hospital Agrees to Continue Oxygen for Catie

futile care, futility, Health care decision-making, life-sustaining treatment, Minnesota, Our News & Commentary Blog, treatment withdrawal, , ,

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 →

What Can We Do When A Hospital Plans To Involuntarily Withdraw Life Support?

euthanasia, futility, Health care decision-making, life-sustaining treatment, Our News & Commentary Blog, passive euthanasia, treatment withdrawal, , ,

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? →

NDY Submits Public Comment to NY Dept. of Health on Advance Care Planning

"end of life", advance directives, DNR, Do-Not-Resuscitate, life-sustaining treatment, MOLST, National POLST Paradigm Task Force, New York, Our News & Commentary Blog, POLST, public comment, , ,

The New York Department of Health recently requested public input from health care providers and patients on how to make advance care planning forms more understandable and easy to use. The Department provided a response template with questions focused on people’s experiences with three forms: the health care proxy, out-of-hospital do not resuscitate order (DNR) … Continue reading NDY Submits Public Comment to NY Dept. of Health on Advance Care Planning →

Neurology Guidelines Push Back Against “Rush To Judgment” In Brain Injury Cases

American Academy of Neurology, brain injury, coma, consciousness, life-ending decisions, life-sustaining treatment, Our News & Commentary Blog, vegetative state, , ,

On September 16, ABC News in Oakland, California reported on a hospital’s threat to remove breathing support from six-month-old Kingston Holmes. The infant needed a ventilator due to a brain injury following a cardiac arrest at home. The first thing I ask when I read a story like that is when did the cardiac arrest … Continue reading Neurology Guidelines Push Back Against “Rush To Judgment” In Brain Injury Cases →