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Puck
The Texan
Joined: 05 Jan 2004
Posts: 5596
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 Wed Mar 16, 2005 8:27 am Hospital Removes Baby's Life Support Against Will of Mother |
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| Quote: |
CNN.com
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Baby at center of life support case dies
HOUSTON, Texas (AP) -- A critically ill 5-month-old was taken off life support and died Tuesday, a day after a judge cleared the way for doctors to halt care they believed to be futile. The infant's mother had fought to keep him alive.
Sun Hudson had been diagnosed with a fatal genetic disorder called thanatophoric dysplasia, a condition characterized by a tiny chest and lungs too small to support life. He had been on a ventilator since birth.
Wanda Hudson unsuccessfully fought to continue her son's medical care. She believed he needed time to grow and could eventually be weaned off the ventilator.
"I wanted life for my son," Hudson said Tuesday. "The hospital gave up on him too soon."
Texas law allows hospitals to end life support in cases such as this but requires that families be given 10 days to find another facility to care for the patient. No hospital was found to take the baby.
The ethics committee at Texas Children's Hospital reviewed Sun's case before recommending that life support be stopped. Hospital officials also recommended the case be taken to court and offered to pay Hudson's attorney fees.
"Texas Children's Hospital is deeply saddened to report that Sun Hudson has died," the hospital said in a statement issued Tuesday.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Last edited by Puck on Sun Mar 27, 2005 1:20 am; edited 1 time in total
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Seven of Nine
Sammie's Mammy
Joined: 16 Jun 2001
Posts: 7871
Location: North East England
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| Wed Mar 16, 2005 11:12 am |
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There's a similiar case herre in the UK- difference is, the child's still alive. I'll post info in a minute.
This is sad though... however, you have to weigh up all the options. I don't know enough about this to form an opinion.
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Seven of Nine
Sammie's Mammy
Joined: 16 Jun 2001
Posts: 7871
Location: North East England
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| Wed Mar 16, 2005 11:15 am |
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| Quote: | 'Possibly inhumane' to keep baby Charlotte on ventilator
KEEPING a premature and severely brain-damaged baby alive on a ventilator would be "pointless and possibly inhumane", a High Court hearing was told yesterday.
Doctors last October won the legal right not to resuscitate 17-month-old Charlotte Wyatt after arguing that she was brain damaged and "had no feeling other than continuing pain".
After a two-day hearing in Cardiff, during which the court heard new evidence that the baby can now see, hear and smile, Mr Justice Hedley reserved his judgment. Charlotte�s parents - Darren, 33, and Debbie Wyatt, 23, from Buckland, Portsmouth - must now wait until 21 April to hear if he will lift the ruling.
Charlotte weighed only 1lb and measured just five inches when she was born three months prematurely at St Mary�s Hospital, Portsmouth, in October 2003 and has serious brain, lung and kidney damage.
She is a "baby crying out for love and affection", Mr Wyatt told the court.
"From my own knowledge and the time I have spent with Charlotte, I have plenty of evidence of how she is beginning to get better. The more stimulation she gets and the more love we give her, the more she smiles. I can see her making progress."
But a paediatrician, known in court only as Dr C, said that Charlotte�s chances of survival on a ventilator were "very small".
Dr C said: "I think that the combination of all her problems will render that [ventilation] not in her interests and an invasive and probably useless activity. In my view it would be a pointless and possibly inhumane thing to do."
A specialist in neuro- disability, known as Dr H, refused to rule out the possibility of an improvement in Charlotte�s condition but said the chances were "not all that good".
He said her "quality of life is pretty awful", and added: "I think she experiences sensations of suffocation as she is moved and handled."
During the closing speech by David Wolfe, acting for the family, Mr Wyatt jumped up and began shouting: "The hospital is telling lies, we have got it on film. Why will no-one accept the truth? You can�t judge a child�s life."
He then stormed out of the courtroom.
Mr Justice Hedley said the case required time to be given to its due consideration and reserved his judgment until 21 April. |
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Lord Borg
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 27 May 2003
Posts: 11214
Location: Vulcan Capital City, Vulcan
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| Wed Mar 16, 2005 12:26 pm |
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jerks, they dare report being "sadden to report the death" when they casued it
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 14823
Location: Classified
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| Wed Mar 16, 2005 3:48 pm |
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HORRIBLE inhuman act! Such EVIL people! They should be ARRESTED! Jerks.
-------signature-------
"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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Beta6
Commander
Joined: 02 Jan 2005
Posts: 475
Location: ~*City Of Angels*~
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| Wed Mar 16, 2005 3:54 pm |
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It's just the way this system works. Yea it is sad, But there is nothing you can do about it.
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 14823
Location: Classified
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| Wed Mar 16, 2005 3:55 pm |
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| Beta6 wrote: | | It's just the way this system works. Yea it is sad, But there is nothing you can do about it. |
Actually, there are things we can do about it. We can put an end to it. Change is needed.
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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IntrepidIsMe
Pimp Handed
Joined: 14 Jun 2002
Posts: 13057
Location: New York
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| Wed Mar 16, 2005 3:56 pm |
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If the doctors felt that there wasn't any chance that the child could live, and there weren't any opposing arguments from other doctors, then I feel they did the right thing. The child shouldn't suffer.
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"Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being."
-Wuthering Heights
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
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Location: Classified
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| Wed Mar 16, 2005 4:05 pm |
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| IntrepidIsMe wrote: | | If the doctors felt that there wasn't any chance that the child could live, and there weren't any opposing arguments from other doctors, then I feel they did the right thing. The child shouldn't suffer. |
What about the parents, hmmm? Do the parents have no say? Of COURSE they do! This is another Terry Shiavo case!
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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IntrepidIsMe
Pimp Handed
Joined: 14 Jun 2002
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Location: New York
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| Wed Mar 16, 2005 4:11 pm |
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Sometimes, I think you have to be big enough to love someone so much, that you should know you have to let them go. You see it with pets all the time.
In Terri Schiavo's case, doctors said that theres a chance for recovery. It's different.
-------signature-------
"Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being."
-Wuthering Heights
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Lord Borg
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 27 May 2003
Posts: 11214
Location: Vulcan Capital City, Vulcan
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| Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:54 pm |
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you should but ultimitly the baby's fate should be the monthers choic not the damn judge or dctors
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Link, the Hero of Time
Vice Admiral
Joined: 15 Sep 2001
Posts: 5581
Location: Kokori Forest, Hyrule
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| Wed Mar 16, 2005 8:06 pm |
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Ok, it seems that people are missing one little bit of information:
| Quote: | | Sun Hudson had been diagnosed with a fatal genetic disorder called thanatophoric dysplasia, a condition characterized by a tiny chest and lungs too small to support life. He had been on a ventilator since birth. |
So isn't it more inhuman to keep the baby alive and in horrible amounts of pain when it will just die anyway?
I think the doctors did what they had to do. The Mother just didn't know when to let go.
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Zeke Zabertini
Captain
Joined: 13 Sep 2002
Posts: 4832
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| Wed Mar 16, 2005 8:58 pm |
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Parents can't always be allowed to choose what's best for their child. Keeping a child on life support indefinately or just so that it can grow up to be severely retarded is a foolish proposition. Just one more opportunity to thin the ranks of an overpopulated planet. I stand behind the decisions of the law and the doctors.
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voy416
Captain
Joined: 28 Oct 2001
Posts: 631
Location: Rock Bottom
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| Wed Mar 16, 2005 10:54 pm |
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On cases like this some parents do not know when to let go. if they know the baby has no chance of a normal life or to live period then i think the doctors are right they know what they are doing
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To Be Are Not To Be......Is That Really The
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Theresa
Lux Mihi Deus
Joined: 17 Jun 2001
Posts: 27256
Location: United States of America
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| Thu Mar 17, 2005 4:38 am |
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I know a little girl named Julie. When she was born, she was termed a "crack baby", and was only given 2-3 years to live at the most, and was also predicted to be a vegetable. Julie was put into foster care. The doctors guaranteed these things, mind you. Julie will never live to see four. Julie will never talk, much less walk. All guaranteed.
Julie's now nearly 8 years old, and in the first grade. Is this the exception? Possibly. The family she went to took time to learn how to care for her, and how to teach her to do things. She still has some medical problems from this, slight brain damage, but nothing extremely noticable. You can say, "oh, well, she wasn't that bad off, then." Yeah, or maybe doctors aren't always right. I believe that someone at least deserves a chance.
(And this isn't a direct comment on the child in question, but also on issues that have been raised in this topic.)
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Some of us fall by the wayside
And some of us soar to the stars
And some of us sail through our troubles
And some have to live with our scars
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Zeke Zabertini
Captain
Joined: 13 Sep 2002
Posts: 4832
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| Thu Mar 17, 2005 9:05 am |
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Equal opportunity for all. Tempting. I like the idea, but the state can't support it. Unless, of course, it raises income taxes. A lot. Many people, if not most, aren't willing to pay that price. It's true though, it's a calculated risk. You'll always have a few that could've grown up healthy. Until there's a way to tell though, the judgement of medical experts is sufficient for me.
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Theresa
Lux Mihi Deus
Joined: 17 Jun 2001
Posts: 27256
Location: United States of America
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| Thu Mar 17, 2005 1:12 pm |
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Experts. That's funny. Those same "experts" that told Nicole DeHuff it was just a cold. The same "experts" that told my father he was havng a migraine.
You give them the right to "play God" now, what's to stop them later?
-------signature-------
Some of us fall by the wayside
And some of us soar to the stars
And some of us sail through our troubles
And some have to live with our scars
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 14823
Location: Classified
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| Thu Mar 17, 2005 4:10 pm |
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| Theresa wrote: | Experts. That's funny. Those same "experts" that told Nicole DeHuff it was just a cold. The same "experts" that told my father he was havng a migraine.
You give them the right to "play God" now, what's to stop them later? |
Good point. "Experts" are sometimes experts, but usually are NOT always right 
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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Zeke Zabertini
Captain
Joined: 13 Sep 2002
Posts: 4832
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| Thu Mar 17, 2005 4:43 pm |
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I believe I already acknowledged that. I'd still rather trust them than... well... you. Not that I mean that personally.
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Theresa
Lux Mihi Deus
Joined: 17 Jun 2001
Posts: 27256
Location: United States of America
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| Thu Mar 17, 2005 5:32 pm |
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I know what you mean. I'd just prefer not to take the chance that the doctor was wrong about my child.
-------signature-------
Some of us fall by the wayside
And some of us soar to the stars
And some of us sail through our troubles
And some have to live with our scars
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Zeke Zabertini
Captain
Joined: 13 Sep 2002
Posts: 4832
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| Thu Mar 17, 2005 5:37 pm |
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Understandable. For one concerned primarily with the preservation of life in such a situation, your views are most ligitimate. As a man in another position, I agree that it is a matter of personal priority. In that respect, I have no will nor ability to contest your moral standing.
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Ziona
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 22 Aug 2001
Posts: 12821
Location: Michigan... for now
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| Thu Mar 17, 2005 6:00 pm |
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The problem is with a parent deciding when their child should be taken off life support is that the parent may never decide it is time. It is very hard for a parent to lose a child and he or she might think that the child may recover, although it is never possible. A parent may hold onto hope for too long, thus making the child either suffer or causing unnecessarily long period of time in which grieving and the like could start to take process.
However, doctor's should be 100% sure that the child is not going to recover before removing life support.
In the case of the child in Texas, I would have wanted my child to be taken off of lifesupport, especially since the condition would be fatal eventually.
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Leo Wyatt
Sweetest Angel
Joined: 25 Feb 2004
Posts: 19045
Location: Investigating A Crime Scene. What did Quark do this time?
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| Thu Mar 17, 2005 6:43 pm |
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The doctors did not have that right or parents permission. Now if they had the parents permission then it is a different story. Doctors think they can play God.
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Zeke Zabertini
Captain
Joined: 13 Sep 2002
Posts: 4832
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| Thu Mar 17, 2005 7:12 pm |
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Everytime people create something they "play God." Everytime a life is saved by medicine that would otherwise end, the human race "plays God." It's what we do. I for one don't wish it any other way.
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Ziona
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 22 Aug 2001
Posts: 12821
Location: Michigan... for now
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| Thu Mar 17, 2005 8:27 pm |
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Humans must, to a certain extent, play god. God wouldn't have given us the ability to think for our own and come up with medicines and remedies if he didn't want us to play god to a certain extent. It is inevitable that we do so, or else our race and species would cease to exist.
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