I just received this in my news feed. Taunya English at WHYY aired a piece on the Appellate Court Ruling on Betancourt v. Trinitas. The case involved the effort of Trinitas Regional Medical Center in New Jersey to remove treatment from a patient over the objections of the family. Having lost in a trial court, Trinitas – with support from other medical organizations – sought to have the trial court’s ruling overturned. Since the court ruled the case moot due to the death of the patient, the trial court ruling stands.
Anne’s comments are at the end of the piece. Comments from family attorney Todd Drayton are included, as well as remarks from Thaddeus Pope.
Anne Studholme’s comments:
Attorney Anne Studholme represents a coalition of disability rights organizations led by Not Dead Yet. In the appeal case, she argued on behalf of the group as a friend of the court.
Studholme: People with disabilities are quite sensitive to the sort of thinking which says, ‘Well, I wouldn’t want to live that way, therefore, he must not want to live that way.’ A lot of people say: Just try living that way for a while. You might find you prefer to live.
Just in: According to Thaddeus Pope, there is one article that reports the hospital hasn’t ruled out an appeal.