Posted on 04/09/2007 4:06:41 PM PDT by wagglebee
Pro-Life Ping
Emilio Gonzales Ping
I don’t understand why Brackenridge is in such a hurry to pull the life support from Emilio. It would seem to me that as long as his family is paying for his treatment that they should continue to work to save his life.
Prayers for Emilio. It is a shame an alternative hospital hasn’t been found.
Is it rubber meets the road time for our political leaders again.
They’ve corrupted the meaning of “futile care.” I don’t know of anyone who thinks care that is futile should be provided. They have decided that Emilio is futile. That is more than just plain wrong. That is evil.
I have some questions about this case that the article does not answer.
First, what is the lifesaving treatment to which the author refers?
Second, what is the child’s prognosis with it?
Third, who is paying for it?
I realize that this last question is rather callous, but I question whether the hospital should be compelled to provide this care for free if the child’s family isn’t paying.
Leigh’s disease is a terminal genetic defect in infants and almost always terminal in the rare cases when teenagers and adults develop it. Without reviewing the case history it’s impossible to say just how bad off young Gonzales is, but I’m certain that the hospital wouldn’t discontinue care unless that care was futile.
I think medicaid is paying for treatments. I wonder if the Schiavo foundation has funds to pay for the care of patients like this. If not, they should be raising funds for those types of cases. I’d contribute.
Emilio is on Medicaid. Children in his condition generally live to be about seven years old, but some live longer.
“but I’m certain that the hospital wouldn’t discontinue care unless that care was futile.”
I agree with you 100%.
Nowhere in this article does it say who is paying for the treatment of this child...anyone know?
The child is on Medicaid.
The child’s mother is 23 and single, so it seems unlikely that she is paying for it.
Interesting that none of the posts asked if Gonzales was an illegal alien.
Here is a bit more information on the case.
http://www.statesman.com/search/content/news/stories/local/04/08/8emilio.html
I am fairly certain that he isn’t. Gonzales is not exactly an uncommon name in Texas.
Children's Hospital has contacted 30 hospitals on behalf of Emilio, including ones that specialize in treating patients like him, said Michael Regier, general counsel for the Seton Family of Hospitals, which operates Children's. None would take him, because "they have nothing further to offer this little boy" that Children's isn't already doing, Regier said.
Emilio's doctors, with the backing of the hospital's ethics committee, contend that ongoing treatment is potentially painful and not medically beneficial. Doctors diagnosed Emilio with a terminal neurometabolic disorder, Leigh's disease, which causes the nervous system to collapse.
Emilio, who has been unable to see or hear since birth, is not responsive, and tests show that his brain is withering, according to doctors. He cannot recover and should be allowed to die in peace and with dignity, the doctors say.
The answer is she is illegal and the tax payers are paying are so I read on another post several days ago.
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