Posted on 04/30/2006 6:56:15 PM PDT by FR_addict
Contact info is provided in the article to express our concerns:
Note: please contact the hospital to express your concerns and to let it know that its actions are being watched (closely):
St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, 6720 Bertner Ave., Houston, TX 77030 Main hospital telephone number - 832-355-1000 Email Also - here is a more general contact list of representatives and officials.
More Information: Partnership for Medical Ethics Reform North Country Gazette Right Wing News My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy ProLifeBlogs
Thanks for posting.
Ping on follow-up of this case.
Interesting case, but I'd like to know more about her medical prognosis before I can make a judgement about the hospitals' decision.
Ping on follow up.
Here's another article.
Andrea Clark Is Not the Only One [Schiavo revisted??]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1622277/posts
There's also some earlier articles at www.hyscience.com
As you know, my son has overcome severe motor skills problems over and over since last October - he has even regained reasoning powers, though he has his days.
This woman's doctor needs to be investigated - where did he graduate, last in his class? All these jerks know is morphine and let 'em die.
The lady wants to live. She can afford the care through her insurance. Her family wants her to live. If you were in a similar situation, would you want the hospital to tell you no, we don't feel like treating you any more, just die and stop being an annoyance?
I can't imagine how anyone could possibly choose to have this doctor or go to this hospital. It would be like Israel subcontracting its boarder security to Hamas.
I can't imagine how anyone could possibly choose to have this doctor or go to this hospital. It would be like Israel subcontracting its border security to Hamas.
L
Clarke has been at St. Luke's, an acute care facility, for four months. She needs long-term, palliative care.
The hospital has no right to make a life or death decision like this. My husband and I were told our son would live 3 to 5 days, then told 5 to 7 months.
He was here for dinner today, washed and dried his clothes, watched the horse races with us on t.v. No, he isn't too steady on his feet but he gets around. Volunteered at the humane society to walk small dogs one day a week.
This after 3 head injuries, plus more head injuries when he fell out of bed twice in the hospital and being unable to even hold his head up in November/December.
Anything positive attention her family and friends do to let Andrea know that they are there for her, can give her the will to improve: spoon feed her, stroke her arms, gently exercise her limbs, pray with her, talk about the fun times they have had to together.
You certainly set me off on a tangent.
Per information on another forum, it seems to me that things aren't quite what they seem.
From my understanding, she is unable to communicate. The family insists that she said she wanted all efforts made to save her life, and that appears to have been done. Her life has ended except for artificial means. I can't help but think that when she said that to her family, she didn't mean this.
When do we decide to pull or not pull the plug? This wasn't one doctor's choice. It was a whole committee of doctors that felt her situation is futile, that she is in pain, and that she has no hope for recovery.
Reading the details I read, I think the family is in denial. Even those who want all efforts to be made, wouldn't want to be kept alive artificially...which is what this apppears to be.
As for the other hospital she was supposed to go to..and any others, her care appears to be artificial life extension. Few hospitals are going to be open to taking a patient such as that.
Exactly! (hey, we agreed on something :))
"Life support" means that, without it, the patient would die. The fact that no other hospital or long-term care facility indicates they can do no more for her than St. Luke's has done.
Screw the committee of doctors!
So, some palliative care facility needs to be found. The problem is, once they receive the prognosis from St. Luke's doctors, they're not going to take her. She's not going to get better.
I don't care if she has been there for four years. The cost of her care is being covered. If the hospital no longer wants her there, they have a responsibility to locate a facility that can adequately provide for her and arrange the transfer. Instead, they want to pull the plug and kill her. I seem to remember hearing something about "Do no harm" as part of the Hipocratic oath, or does that not apply in this case?
Apparently, no other facility will take her. Texas has a law that allows a facility to withdraw care if the facility's medical staff determines that the patient will not recover.
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