Brain-damaged woman should not be allowed to die, court rules

[alp227]

Source: The Guardian

A woman reduced to a minimally conscious state by a viral illness should not be permitted to die because her life retains "positive elements", a judge has ruled.

The landmark case at the court of protection sets a precedent for future applications to withdraw treatment from patients who are chronically medically dependent. It is thought to be the first time a judge has ruled on a case involving someone who is minimally conscious as opposed to being in a persistent vegetative state.

The woman, now 52, and legally known as "M", as her family does not wish to be identified, had been due to go on a skiing holiday in February 2003 when her partner found her slumped in a "drowsy and confused condition".

She was taken to hospital and diagnosed with viral encephalitis, which has left her with extensive and irreparable brain damage; for the past eight and a half years she has been fed by a tube.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/sep/28/brain-damaged-woman-high-court

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But Terri Schiavo's husband was allowed to remove her feeding tube...

[LynneSin]

1. Well not at first was he allowed to remove the tube

Remember Jeb Bush, Congress and George W. Bush did all they could to leave the tube in her.

[roguevalley]

32. if someone can identify a positive element tell me. My mom was

in this position and we let her go. It was the best thing we ever did.

[arcane1]

2. What does Terri Schiavo have to do with this?

Completely irrelevant to this sad story.

[JDPriestly]

23. Terri Schiavo was pretty certainly brain dead. That has not been

established -- at least not according to this report. This patient may be in a very different condition than Terri Schiavo.

[Bunny]

3. Good god, not Terri Schiavo again.

Thank god the husband finally prevailed in that case.

This is another instance where you can't stress enough the importance of drafting and duly authorizing a Living Will. The Schiavo case prompted me to get my affairs in order, so I know that my wishes will be followed if this should happen to me.

[jwirr]

17. I agree with you regarding the living will but I will not make a value

judgment on this woman's life. My daughter has been fed through a tube for at least 7 years now and is developmentally disabled. So my question is do they expect her to regain consciousness? Life can be very precious even for those with "brain damage" and feeding tubes. I would hate to be the person who made this decision, unlike in the Terri Shivo case. Terri was brain dead already. I and my daughter have exactly the same living will. She deserves life as much as I do. By the way if the feeding tube was removed it would mean that the body was slowly starved to death - at least in the case of my daughter. She has lived without life supports other than the tube from the day she was born 53 years.

[JDPriestly]

24. I agree with you, jwirr.

A doctor of my acquaintance has, however, advised me that prolonged use of a feeding tube is very painful. She says she would never want to have a feeding tube for a long time. So it depends on whether you are willing to support that physical pain. Your daughter may be quite used to it. We do get used to pain, believe it or not.

[jwirr]

28. I assume that it depends on what kind of feeding tube. If it had been

suggested that we shove a tube down her throat every day for the rest of her life I would have said no. Heir's is inserted into her stomach and stays there until it needs to be removed for cleanliness sake.

As to pain - she expresses pain so we know what that looks like - she has had endometriosis and that was a real hell of pain until I found a miracle worker who did not listen to all the "no hysterectomy for developmentally disabled women" bull. Before the tube was inserted she also expressed pain from reflux 24/7. We would know if there was pain.

As to your doctor how does she know there is pain for every patient? I would like to see the link to this evidence. Not because I am rejecting your concern but because I want to watch for any possibility of this for my daughter.

Edited: During Tommy Thompson reign do you remember the 15 year old girl in Janesville Wisconsin who died when she weighed only 15 pounds? That is what would have happened to my daughter. At the time I called the social workers in that county to ask why they did not find a doctor who would make sure the child was given an avenue to nutrition instead of just let her die and then try to arrest the mother for letting her starve. What many do not know is that there is a long list of DD children who have digestive problems that inhibit digestion and that we have two choices: starvation or tubes.

[JDPriestly]

33. This is great. The tube she was talking about was in the throat.

I suppose that whether a tube can be inserted in the stomach depends on the condition of the patient among other things.

The tube in the throat is painful -- as your daughter let you know.

I'm really happy that you have found this good solution for your daughter. Having two of my own, I know what a joy your daughter must be.

My best wishes go to you and your daughter.

I believe we agree that the Terry Schiavo case was not typical of cases of people who are in comas or on feeding tubes or who need assistance breathing.

[jwirr]

34. Agreed. Thank you for the added info.

[Ruby the Liberal]

4. People - THIS is why you need a living will and medical directive on file

with your doctor, your family, and if appropriate, your lawyer.

[Warpy]

5. It might not have helped in this case

Viral encephalitis is unpredictable and some patients you don't think will make it at all will have a full recovery. You just never know what you've got until the illness has run its full course, and that's usually after the patient has had the full course of intervention.

It's really easy to put those tubes in. It's pure hell to get them taken out, advance directives or not.

[Ruby the Liberal]

6. Even after 8 years?

I have heard of people coming out of comas after a decade or two, but something like this (viral) - one would think that, rather than 'just' a comatose state, it was wreaking physical havoc throughout the body this whole time.

Forgive my medical ignorance - I know less than nothing about this stuff. My greatest fear is becoming a burden to my family with little to no upside.

[Warpy]

27. She's profoundly brain damaged

and incapable of things like chewing and swallowing but she's medically stable otherwise.

[pnwmom]

37. She's minimally conscious but medically stable, as long as

she's tied to tubes and machines for the rest of her life.

Isn't this what living wills are for? To prevent ending up in these kinds of situations? If she were brain dead the solution would be much easier.

[Bunny]

7. Yes, but after eight years of no change, I think the prognosis would be clear.

During the case evidence was heard that M was unable to communicate consistently, unable to mobilise or care for herself in any way, suffered pain, distress and discomfort regularly, and that after eight years there was no evidence that her condition had improved.

I hope my loved ones would move heaven and earth to take me off the machines. There's NO WAY I'd want to live like this, year in and year out.

[Warpy]

26. I wonder if they'd asked her what she wants during a lucid

and communicative period or if that is even possible.

The fact that she has such periods means conservatives want her to wring every last bit of misery out of her life. Someone needs to remind them that their taxes are paying for it.

[pnwmom]

38. Where does it say she has lucid periods?

[buckrogers1965]

8. The state should never override the family and doctors

in a persons health decisions. If the family wants to withdraw food and nutrition and a panel of doctors agree, based on established criteria, then they should be allowed to do so.

[Yo_Mama]

35. The doctors didn't agree

The local health authority, responsible for commissioning her care, also opposed the application.

[buckrogers1965]

41. Didn't say doctor.

Could have been an administrator that doesn't want to lose the income.

[MineralMan]

9. In 1991, I contracted viral encephalitis.

I was semi-comatose for two weeks, then slowly made a full recovery. Not everyone is that fortunate. Since I do not have any idea what this woman's state is, I can't comment on this decision. I sure am glad they waited for me to recover, though.

[Ineeda]

10. Sincerely glad you recovered, but

two weeks is not eight years. Clearly, this poor woman won't recover. Final directives are essential, IMHO.

[MineralMan]

13. As I said, I cannot comment on this individual case. Too little

information.

[sakabatou]

11. So did I

Though, I was only out for a few days. Docs told me it was due to how healthy I was beforehand. However, there is lingering physical damage.

[MineralMan]

12. I'm very sorry to hear that you have any residual effects.

I was very lucky, and know that. I had to relearn some math skills, but that was it. Again, I was very fortunate.

[sakabatou]

15. Yeah

Bad short-term memory retention
Seizures
Partial blindness in 1 eye
Tremors

XP

[MineralMan]

16. I'm so sorry.

It's a really variable disease in its aftereffects. When I was just beginning to recover, my doctor warned me and my family that there might be deficits. It was a scary, scary time.

[sakabatou]

31. I find it more of a pain in the ass than something serious

[Scuba]

14. They must not have heard from the Repuke debate audience. n/t

[tawadi]

18. Get a living will people!

http://www.legacywriter.com/livingwill.asp

[loyalsister]

19. I wonder what "unable to communicate consistently" means?

This is a lot less clear cut than other cases I have heard of.

[and-justice-for-all]

20. Well it should not be up to the courts to make this type of decision..

its a private matter that should remain that way.

[kestrel91316]

21. This is in the UK, folks. Remember that US law does not apply there.

[SkyDaddy7]

22. Why the HELL is OP comparing this to Terri Schiavo?

Terry Schiavo's case was completely different! DU is truly changing!

[haikugal]

25. In my opinion this is a travesty and another example of

government intruding on the rights of individuals. I want the right to die and I think everyone should have that right. I wouldn't keep a pet in that condition without feeling it was being tortured. Let the poor woman go.

[valerief]

29. self-dele

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

30. Good luck.

Dying is batting a 1.000.

[pitohui]

36. you wouldn't torture a damn dog like this but you'd do it to a human being

and the motive is money, drain the family of all money and all hope and all future, then drain the gov't

the torture the victim undergoes as a brain damaged person w. no knowledge of what is going on is not considered important, let this woman stay in hell forever since there is money to be made

human beings truly have no conscience and no caring toward their own, it sickens me

if i ever have viral encephalitis that destroys my brain for fucks sake let me die, don't keep me on a tube so that you can also destroy my family's memories of me and their hope of having any little bit of money and freedom in their lives

[NashVegas]

39. Yup

What do you think would happen if the family decided to legally terminate its relationship with her, and make their daughter a ward of the state? How long would she last? Two weeks? Two months?

That's what's so barbaric about this.

[BlueIris]

40. Remind me to update my living will. nt