From the Wisconsin State Journal (May 14, 2009):
Group sues UW Hospital over policy on withholding treatment from disabled patients
By JASON STEIN
In a case that could have broad legal implications for when some patients are allowed to die, an advocacy group is alleging that doctors at UW Hospital broke the law by withholding treatment [and food and water] from two developmentally disabled patients with apparent cases of pneumonia...
...In the first case, the family of a then 72-year-old developmentally disabled patient identified as “J.L.” complained to Disability Rights about “what the family believed was undue pressure on the part of a (UW Hospital) physician to terminate life-sustaining medical treatment,” according to the lawsuit.
On May 1, 2008, the patient was brought to UW Hospital with apparent
pneumonia. After a discussion with Dr. Julia Wright that included
J.L.’s quality of life, the family agreed to discontinue the patient’s
medications and not use a feeding tube.
When J.L. woke up the next morning and asked to eat, the family sought to restart treatment but encountered resistance from Wright, the lawsuit alleges....
The other case involved M.E., a then 13-year-old patient with severe developmental disabilities that left him unable to speak. During the summer of 2006, the parents of M.E. worked out a plan with UW Hospital doctors to limit medical treatment for conditions such as pneumonia in the future because of his “poor prognosis and poor quality of life,” the lawsuit alleges.
In November 2006, M.E. developed apparent pneumonia and the staff at the long-term care facility where he was staying, Bethesda Lutheran Homes in Watertown, sought an order from his doctors at UW Hospital to treat him with an antibiotic. When UW Hospital doctors ultimately declined to give the order, citing the wishes of M.E.’s mother, Bethesda Lutheran staff decided to give the patient antibiotics anyway because they believed it was possible to treat M.E., the lawsuit alleges.
Bethesda Lutheran spokesman David Morstad declined to speak about the case, citing privacy concerns. But he said the staff at the Christian long-term care home believe those with developmental disabilities “should receive medical care for treatable illnesses just as non-disabled citizens do.”
“We believe that the law in Wisconsin is clear that people with developmental disabilities should receive medical care for treatable illnesses unless they are dying or in a persistent vegetative state,” Morstad said.
The boy’s parents objected to the treatment and transferred him on Nov. 20, 2006, to UW Hospital, where he did not receive treatment and where nutrition and fluids were stopped. From the hospital he was transferred to a hospice facility where he died on Nov. 22, according to the lawsuit....
Looks like people with developmental disabilities should stay away from Dr. Wrong and this hospital.
Posted by: Jenifer | May 27, 2009 at 09:59 AM
It is beyond my comprehension that 17 years after the Americans with Disabilities Act that there are still people in this world that think this way! It is not only appauling that there are parents out there that still think like this, the fact that there are medical doctors that still think this way is just plain "Scarey". Just because a person can not walk and may need somekind of assistive device in order to speak and be heard does not mean that that individual does not deserve to live. As a Self Advocate, a person with a disability, each and every person no matter their disability or lack there of deserves the same rights and respect as everyone else!! People with disAbilities are People First!!!
Posted by: Shelly Shetley, MSW | May 27, 2009 at 12:23 PM
I will be finishing medical school in a few weeks and am a wheelchair user (spinal cord injury) myself. As physicians, we do hold the incredible gift of being with patients and their families at critical moments of both joy and struggle, and we do have an incredible power to voice professional opinions that will sway families and individuals to make decisions that deeply impact the course of their lives. It is imperitive that we continue to raise awareness within the medical community about quality of life for people with disabilities, and to infuse concepts of the social model of disability that can provide a counterbalance to the very, very entrenched medical model.
Posted by: Cheri Blauwet | May 30, 2009 at 04:06 AM
Not surprising at all, since there is no legal remedies at all for a illegal actions against the disabled. We spend trillions to deny jobs or business or any legal redress and yet we think that some is going to pay to feed someone! Boy we are really stupid aren't we. Useless website, after useless website that we are paying for any - NO HELP AT ALL. No one in charge of the store. No one at home. No response. No help. NOTHING AT ALL. Yet we are expect to continue the trash for advertisement for these bigots that are stealing life in myriad ways from the disabled. Wow! Could you find some news or how to help the disabled instead of all the endless, brainless idiots that continues this ugly behavior - anyone, anywhere?
Posted by: Ralph | June 19, 2009 at 08:18 AM