Posted on 03/21/2012 4:30:37 PM PDT by wagglebee
Texas Right to Life denounced the decision by physicians to allegedly eliminate hydration and feeding of a patient under their care in a Texas hospital. According to the group, the hospital has refused to allow the patient and his family to take him to a nearby hospice for care. A March 20 news release from Texas Right to Life, “Willie breathed on his own through the night, but he is being dehydrated and starved to death. Because he hasn’t been fed or watered, his heart rate is dangerously low. After he breathed steadily last night, the hospital discussed hospice with the family. Now however, the facility is waiting for his heart to give out since his heart rate has diminished and will not revisit hospice care.”
Furthermore, declared the group, “They are now actively killing him, more so than yesterday.” The statement came from Elizabeth Graham, the director of Texas Right to Life.
Texas Right to Life says that the patient is a man named William, who as yet has not been further identified. The group said the hospital is located in northwest Houston, which is not yet further identified. The statement said, “Willie breathed on his own through the night, but he is being dehydrated and starved to death. Because he hasn’t been fed or watered, his heart rate is dangerously low. After he breathed steadily last night, the hospital discussed hospice with the family. Now however, the facility is waiting for his heart to give out since his heart rate has diminished and will not revisit hospice care.
The statement continued, “They are now actively killing him, more so than yesterday.” The group alleged that the physicians “pulled the plug on a patient whose family called me at the 11th hour, pleading to me to save their father's life. Despite the family's desperation to save their father, and everything Texas Right to Life did for them, the hospital's death panel decided to proceed and kill him.”
Texas Right to Life says that the patient is suffering from leukaemia, complicated by pneumonia. Taken for emergency surgery, he told his daughter before being sedated, "Fight for me, baby; I ain't done living." The man’s family had medical power of attorney and instructed the medical staff to continue their father’s medical care and treatment.
However, according to the group, physicians at the hospital decided last week that the patient’s family should either take him to another hospital or they would suspend hydration and feeding.
Trusting that their father had adequate health insurance, they asked the social worker at the hospital to arrange for a transfer. However, as the deadline approached they were told that no other hospital in the area would accept him. The family determined that the social worker had described their father as “one who had no hope of meaningful recovery, one whose quality of life was gone, one with no dignity due to his illness and disability.” As of March 19, according to Texas Right to Life, hydration and other treatment had been removed, even while the patient is now breathing on his own and has adequate medical insurance. The patient has yet to be transferred to another hospital or to hospice care.
Info: TexasRightToLife.com
So, they think murdering him is somehow dignified? Disgusting.
I have personally witnessed this in a hospice situation. It is murder. Plain and simple.
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How is this not evil?
My family has too.
Sorry, FRiend. His children are IN medicine-related industries. I was ready to choke them. He wasn’t even allowed to go to his home and look everything over, the tress, furniture, even his pets. They didn’t even let him say goodbye.
The group said the hospital is located in northwest Houston, which is not yet further identified.
Anonymous physicians, social workers et al. IMHO, the Texas Right to Life org should not be making such releases with information that cannot be vetted, nor should it be posted here.
I'm not saying that the information is false. However, I am saying that it's vague in too many respects to be taken seriously in its current form.
I agree.
Unfortunately, HIPAA laws prevent allowing anyone access to personally identifiable medical information. The Right to Life group may have no legal option to give more info.
Hospital death panel trumps medical power of attorney
by Elizabeth Graham
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
I have devastating news.
Yesterday, I wrote you a message about Willie, a patient at a hospital in northwest Houston whose doctors decided that he should no longer have medical care despite the wishes of the patient and his family. Many of you have emailed and called me and offered to help Texas Right to Life and to help Willie’s family. For that, I am touched, and I thank you.
Late yesterday evening after I sent my email to you, I learned that Willie died.
The “ethics panel” at the facility decided, against the wishes of the family -- and the patient himself -- to stop medical treatment.
As you can imagine, I'm shocked, and his family is devastated about the way their father was treated, and ultimately killed, by so-called medical professionals.
I know you're shocked, too, because of the number of replies I've received from you, and people like you, offering prayers and support over the past 12 hours.
Many have asked me which medical facility where this happened but the family asked me not to reveal it at the moment.
Friend, we have a long road ahead of us to change how we care for the suffering and disabled.
Thank you for your prayers and please continue to pray for Willie’s family and even the medical professionals who are trying to save lives.
I wanna know how it is legal?
If they want to kill him so badly, then why do it not in a humane way? Not even the condemned are executed like that.
Talking about cruel and unusual punishment.
the family should just take the patient out and bring him elsewhere, or take him home...get a court order if necessary....
but I suspect the family has been offered options yet refused....
This Texas right to life needs to do better than this.
Name names!
Which hospital and what doctors?!?!
I want names, emails, and phone numbers posted here to Free Republic for all to see.
No, that only applies to medical staff. If this is really happening, a 3rd party such as a family member could tell a reporter, or the TRL all the details and it could be dissemination without running afoul of any laws. One would think that given the alleged situation, that family members would be screaming the details to high heaven, yet the article is full of nothing but vague allusions.
Murder is the right word
We’ll have to start our own underground hospitals - like the underground railroad.
Oh come on Wags! Surely this sets off even your radar! By this account, this facility and staff just murdered this man against the family's wishes, and yet the family is asking that the identity of those involved not be disclosed? How completely cooperative and nice of them.
they'll come with reasons why....but if you have a morbidly obese patient, they are hard to place....a patient on restraints..hard or impossible to place in my region....a person who has complicated issues...hard to place....
we don't know the condition of this "willie" because the whole story is washed in secrecy....although after death, I am not sure Hippa still applies.....
was he 450 pounds?...was he on a bipap machine?...maybe had extensive wounds needing wound vacs...frequent suctioning....trach care?...
and if the family wanted hydration, would that require an elaborate IV site and very expensive TPN (IV nutrition)?....
the right to life people are not doing themselves any favors when they paint such a wide brush over these cases...each case is different...
and whatever happened to letting nature take its course?.....the very old and the very frail and the very very sick used to be able to die....
pneumonia used to be the "blessing of the aged"....
Perhaps now that he has passed away they don't want any publicity.
they'll come with reasons why....but if you have a morbidly obese patient, they are hard to place....a patient on restraints..hard or impossible to place in my region....a person who has complicated issues...hard to place....
He was ALREADY IN A HOSPITAL.
How many morbidly obese LEUKEMIA patients have you run across?
the right to life people are not doing themselves any favors when they paint such a wide brush over these cases...each case is different...
Yeah we've heard all the "each case is different" stuff before, but the culture of death has NEVER seen a case where they didn't think killing the person was the answer.
and whatever happened to letting nature take its course?.....the very old and the very frail and the very very sick used to be able to die....
Really? Have you or anyone you loved ever been on antibiotics? Ever had an appendectomy? Bypass surgery? Ever taken blood pressure or cholesterol medication? Do YOU avoid doctors no matter what and just "let nature take its course"?
My family also...husband’s elderly (88) mother. It was done without a word right under her children’s noses. Until we got there no one noticed that she was never given water, nor did any of them think to do so.
We invited hospice “out.” She made a remarkable improvement during the time that we were there because we constantly gave her ice & sips of water...she even sat up in bed and ate some ice cream the night before we had to leave to go back to our home.
I wish the story had a happy ending, but we had to leave, and within the next week she was right back in the same condition...daughter had called hospice back in.
One thing I know for sure, God will recompense to each one in the end.
I fought hospice years ago with my Mother. I would NEVER put my husband into hospice. I think it is a scam.
This "William" sure didn't.
The family involved here should do the same kind of thing.
I have too.
I think an appropriate response would be essentially a “force option”.
Once a destination has been determined, get some sympathetic medical personnel, and half a dozen strong-arm men along with a gurney and ambulance crew. Then, in the early hours of the morning go in and take him.
Admittedly, the strong arms will likely be arrested, and that should be part of the plan that if the hospital staff or security interfere, that it is the strong arms who will be the focus of force as the patient is spirited away.
It will take months or years to get it all sorted out in court, and by then the patient will likely have died a natural death.
But it will cause reverberations throughout the medical community and likely the government, to the effect that people will fight to keep their loved ones from being medically murdered.
So a battery of sympathetic lawyers should also be standing by, since the real battle will be in court.
Holy COW! How could this law even be constitutional? And if Wiki is correct, it became law in 1999. But how could that be? Wasn’t President Bush the governor then? I cannot believe a pro-life Christian like Bush would have ever signed such a thing
“the hospital has refused to allow the patient and his family to take him to a nearby hospice for care”
Me, in that situation:
“Allow” presumes I recognize your authority in this matter!”
“We are leaving, NOW!”
are they starving him, or just withdrawing treatment that won’t help (futile care theory)?
End stage leukemia along with pneumonia? Sounds like IV fluid would only prolong his terminal agony, not prolong his life. And Catholic law does not require extraordinary care...IV fluid here means either a deep IV line (which will only increase the chance of infection and heart failure) or spending hours trying to find a vein that won’t collapse.
I’d hold off before I dare to judge this matter.
are they starving him, or just withdrawing treatment that won’t help (futile care theory)?
End stage leukemia along with pneumonia? Sounds like IV fluid would only prolong his terminal agony, not prolong his life. And Catholic law does not require extraordinary care...IV fluid here means either a deep IV line (which will only increase the chance of infection and heart failure) or spending hours trying to find a vein that won’t collapse.
I’d hold off before I dare to judge this matter.
I think an appropriate response would be essentially a “force option”.
And not just for circumstances like these.
How is depriving someone of water and nutrition “letting nature take its course”?
By what legal right or authority can a hospital keep a patient incarcerated to prevent them being taken to hospice care?
I cannot imagine that hospital successfully resisting my (very well-armed) family if we knew one of ours needed hospice care.
Thanks for the ping, and again for all your work on FR.
The tactics of the pro-death side now include an
identity shield. All we know is the first name of
the victim and geographical location.
This method of murder is currently in use, and has been
for many, many years (well before 2005) under the specious
pretext that it’s not murder. Your reaction is entirely
understandable, but be aware, that’s exactly how they
want you to respond.
Precisely, they want us to be so revolted by what they are doing that we will demand a more "humane" method of execution.
IMO, both George W Bush and Jeb Bush showed their real
colors 7 years ago and a few days ago. However, it can
plausibly be maintained that the Texas Futile Care
Law was passed by misreprenting its purpose. There are
indeed situations where family members demand medical
interventions that woudl be harmful, or unnecessary. Back
in 2005 some knowledgeable FReepers gave some examples, but
I do not recall the specifics. Water and food (and some
other slightly more sophisticated interventions) are not
medical care subject to withdrawal. My authority for this
being Dr. Abraham’s Nishmat Avraham.
Social worker?
Something’s not right with this story.
Don’t even attempt to add some realistic prudent professional thought here.......
This patient (now murder victim) is anonymous, but so are many other victims of this practice.
In 1999, 10.4% of the severely cognitively impaired residents of the United States were starved and dehydrated to death.
In 2000, 11.0% of the severely cognitively impaired residents of the United States were starved and dehydrated to death.
In 2001, 11.4% of the severely cognitively impaired residents of the United States were starved and dehydrated to death.
I haven’t found data yet for other years, but I think it’s a fair guess that the killings continue to climb.
This doesn’t represent a percentage of patients who died (which would be bad enough). It doesn’t mean that 11.4% of the patients who died were starved and dehydrated. It means 11.4% of all the people living in the U.S.A. with severe cognitive impairments were killed this way. And it doesn’t include the ones who were killed using other methods, such as denial of antibiotics for simple infections, removal of breathing assistance, etc.
The standard used for determining severe cognitive impairment for the purpose of this study is a score of 5 or less on the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). Patients in a coma or PVS cannot possibly score 1, much less 5. You’ve probably seen people in the grocery store with a score of 5 or less. So these killings include a wide range of brain damaged people. I wonder how many thousands of people are living with a score of 5 or less. And for every 1,000 people living with a score of 5 or less in the year 2001, 114 of them were starved and dehydrated to death that year.
All I have before me are the percentages. I’d like to see the corresponding numbers. Or would I?
Following is the breakdown by state for 2001. Notice that Rhode Island tops the list, with just over a third of that population exterminated this way. That might have something to do with the fact that RI has appointed the pro-euthanasia group Choice in Dying the official State agency in charge of informing the public about “end-of-life choices.” They supply forms for “living wills” and “assist” the public in filling out those forms. This is what happens when you put the fox in charge of the henhouse.
Believe it or not, Florida and Texas are both below the national average. Every state is on the list. Georgia is at the bottom of the list, exterminating only 1.30% this way.
RI - 33.80%
OR - 32.50%
MI - 28.30%
MT - 28.00%
WI - 27.20%
CA - 23.40%
UT - 23.40%
AZ - 20.90%
PA - 17.40%
MN - 17.20%
AK - 17.10%
CT - 15.40%
WY - 14.90%
MD - 14.60%
NM - 14.20%
SD - 14.10%
WA - 13.20%
OH - 12.90%
ID - 12.30%
IA - 12.10%
MO - 11.90%
National Average - 11.4%
VT - 11.20%
HI - 11.10%
DE - 10.80%
ND - 10.80%
MA - 9.90%
IN - 9.70%
ME - 9.20%
NH - 8.70%
NY - 8.50%
NE - 7.70%
CO - 7.20%
AL - 7.10%
TX - 7.10%
IL - 6.70%
WV - 6.70%
KY - 6.60%
SC - 6.50%
TN - 6.30%
FL - 6.20%
NV - 6.20%
AR - 5.70%
NC - 5.20%
KS - 4.80%
NJ - 4.80%
OK - 4.10%
LA - 3.70%
VA - 3.60%
DC - 3.10%
MS - 3.00%
GA - 1.30%
Facts On Dying ~ This study was funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, who adamantly opposes the rights of vulnerable people to continue living. So if any trolls show up, complaining that the data is skewed in favor of life, check the facts and get back to me.
- - - - - - - - - -
I’m temporarily HTML impaired. If you check my profile page, you’ll find this same info with relevant links. At the time that I compiled the above data, the focus was on patients with cognitive impairments, but if you follow the link to the study ( http://www.chcr.brown.edu/dying/feedtubedata.HTM ) you’ll see that it is by no means limited to them.
As a medical researcher, I have to take HIPAA training annually, even though I never see patient data. True, I don't take the training directed at caregivers, although I seem to recall that they cannot freely discuss patient details even with the family. Another possibility is that the family contacted the right-to-life group, TRL, for assistance, but did not want details publicized. In that case, TRL told as many details as they could while respecting the family's privacy.
I do agree, it is frustrating to not know the details. For all we know, the food and water were discontinued because the patient's body was shutting down... and the family did not understand that.
“We’ll have to start our own underground hospitals - like the underground railroad.”
That’s what it’s coming to, and it will get worse, if Obamacare isn’t overturned.
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