For the most complete information on the Betancourt case, including links to other amicus briefs, the best resource I’ve found is the Medical Futility Blog by Thaddeus Mason Pope.
Pope disagrees with NDY on a significant number of issues, but he’s an impressive researcher who has posted links to research and news coverage that I’ve found valuable. He also seems to make an honest attempt to be a fair reporter on issues he highlights on his blog, while making his own perspective clear (I do think he falls short of the mark at times, but I would guess he’d say the same about me).
Pope wrote and filed an amicus brief in the Betancourt case, and I’ll let him explain his position in his own words:
As I have written (and continue to write) largely from the perspective of the healthcare provider on these issues, it came as a suprise to some that my brief supports the position of the plaintiff/respondent patient.
But that is one of the perks of academia. I have no client, no cause. I just want the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division to make the most informed decision possible. The Defendant/Appellant Hospital and its amici made overreaching claims. As I have spent a lot of time thinking about these issues, I wanted to tell the Court what I saw. If the court renders a written opinion in this matter, it will be enormously influential not only in New Jersey but across the United States and even abroad.
His brief is available online in PDF (scanned document).
To get more information on the history of this case, and other briefs, go to the Medical Futility Blog and type “betancourt” in the search window in the upper left-hand corner of the page.
Did you see this recent sad case?
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/11/15/uk.baby.dies/index.html
London, England (CNN) — A severely ill toddler at the center of a legal battle between his parents has died days after his father agreed to switch off his ventilator.
The 13-month-old boy, known as Baby RB, suffered from congenital myasthenic syndrome, a rare genetic condition that means he cannot breathe on his own.
Cristopher Cuddihee, a solicitor who represents the father, confirmed the baby’s death early Sunday but did not provide any more details.
The baby’s father had been battling his mother and the hospital in London’s High Court because they wanted the child’s life support switched off “in his best interests.” He disagreed, saying the baby could play and recognize his parents. The father withdrew his objection Tuesday and allowed the ventilator to be switched off.
The hospital defended its stance in a statement last week, saying the baby’s birth defect “causes severe muscle weakness, feeding and respiratory problems, and the disease is progressive.”
Baby RB’s lungs filled with fluid every few hours, giving him the sensation he is choking and causing the child to suffer, lawyers representing the hospital said in court November 2.
Ultimately, the father agreed with the mother and the hospital that the best thing was for the baby to die “in a planned way, with the administration of a large dose of sedative, the removal of the ventilation tube and his consequent death,” Judge Andrew McFarlane said Tuesday.