Friday June 18, 2010
Decision to Pull Plug on Gary Coleman Contradicted Living Will
By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman
June 16, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Former Diff'rent Strokes star Gary Coleman's ex-wife decided to "pull the plug" on her husband after a head injury, contradicting his desires as expressed in a living will signed several years earlier, according to reports in Britain's Sun newspaper, the New York Daily News, and other major media.
Coleman reportedly checked a box in his living will, which dates from 2006, with the label "choice to prolong life" and the description "I want my life to be prolonged as long as possible within the limits of generally accepted health care standards."
The will also reportedly states that he should be allowed to die if doctors have "diagnosed that I have been in a coma for at least 15 days and that the coma is irreversible, meaning that there is no reasonable possibility of my ever regaining consciousness."
According to CNN, a spokesman for the Utah Medical Association said that the wishes of a family member would overrule a living will.
"It's not going to trump a family member that comes in and says 'I want you to do something different than what's here in the advance directive,'" said Mark Fotheringham.
Shannon Price, Coleman's ex-wife still living with him at the time of his injury, reportedly terminated life support only hours after Coleman was placed on it, later claiming that his death was inevitable and she didn't want him to be another "Terri Schiavo."
Price is now suing to be made the executor of Coleman's estate, and has reportedly produced a handwritten addendum to his will leaving everything to her.
Related LifeSiteNews coverage:
Gary Coleman's Quick Removal off Life Support and Resulting Death Raises Questions
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/may/10053109.html