Posted by AuntieMel on March 22, 2005, at 16:56:03
In reply to Re: It's really a tough case, posted by gardenergirl on March 22, 2005, at 15:30:37
He's right, but it's not as bad as you think.
In fact the National Right to Life orginization helped draft the law.
It says that if a hospital's ethics committee determines that further life support is 'futile' *and* the family can find no other facility to take the patient (within 10 days) the hospital can take the patient off of life support. Feeding tubes don't (for this law) count as futile life support.
What the law was designed to do was to make it tougher to take someone off life support against the family's will. Before this, there was no legal requirement to require treatment at all. So if there was a disagreement it nearly always ended up in a court - subject to the feelings of the presiding judge.
There was a case recently in the news. Newborn baby, born with a defect so that the rib cage and lungs could not grow. Even on a breathing machine, the baby would slowly suffocate.
The hospital (Texas Childrens, one of the best in the world) tried to do the best by the family. Besides hiving the mom more than the required 10 days, they also paid for the lawyer to help her take it to court.
But the law was clear - and no other facility would take him. Eventually they did shut down the ventilator.
Another case followed shortly, the wife wanted to keep her husband on a ventilator and the hospital said it was futile. She found a place willing to take him and moved him.
Hospitals here are not allowed to send someone away for lack of funds or insurance (not counting elective treatment, of course.) Another reason the folks here are ticked at the current governor. He cut CHIP funding (turning away fed money) and put the burden on local hospitals.
poster:AuntieMel
thread:473481
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20050122/msgs/474152.html