Posted on 03/14/2005 5:22:48 PM PST by Dog Gone
HOW IS THIS EVEN IN THE JURIDICTION OF A JUDGE?!!!!!
Pictures?
Praying for Terri Schiavo.
WOW, this is so sad. I may think there is no hope for this child, but I believe it is the parents decision to pull life support or not, not a judges!!
Texas Children's, in accordance with state law, had its ethics committee review Sun 's case before recommending that life support be discontinued. The committee includes ethicists, clergy, parents, doctors and social workers.
The Hudson case is in court partly because the hospital lacks confidence in the mother's mental competence. She says her son was fathered not by a man but by "the sun that shines in the sky," who will decide whether he lives.
This is a bizarre case. Whatever the court decides, doctors say it's likely that Sun will die within a few months because no amount of artificial life support can sustain him for long.
Sad.....
That is all well and good, what the hospital has done and all, but my question is...
Shouldn't the mother undergo a competency evaluation? If she's found competent, then why would the court overrule her wishes? If she's ruled incompetent in accordance with the law, then I could understand the hospital involving their ethics committee et. al. and the courts to address this poor child.
Seems we're either missing information, or they're going about it backwards...
Previous articles pretty much indicate that she's not competent, but rather than pursue that route, the hospital has sought to pursue this legal route.
The hospital has even paid for her lawyer.
This case is not as close as it appears. The nutcase mom wants her child to suffer to the bitter end because she thinks he's immortal. Of course, it ain't her nickel.
Believe me, I see stuff like this all the time...and I knew befoer finishing the article that it wasn't her nickel.
But, if she is such a "nutcase", then get her declared mentally incompetent and this whole thing doesn't give me the heebee-jeebees. Maybe she has been and this article doesn't state that fact.
I had no idea that the hospital was funding her lawyer too...but then again, every children's hospital I have ever worked at has gone to extreme lengths to cover all bases when it comes to dealing with unfortunate children with significant illnesses. They often care more than the parents unfortunately...
I think this is probably it for baby Sun, but it's pretty hard to believe that this isn't the sad but proper thing to do. I think any responsible parent would have let him go months ago.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/02/16/life.support.fight.ap/
Sun's mother appeared agitated in the courtroom and spoke to judge for several minutes during the hearing.
"I was told what to do by Sun," she said. "I don't understand all this legal stuff. But please give Sun time to allow Sun to create Sun."
Hudson has not seen her son in more than a month but believes she communicates with him telepathically.
The mother was admitted to a psych unit recently. No word available on this evaluation.
What a sad situation. May God have mercy on baby Sun, and his poor, confused mother, and everyone who has done his best for this little baby.
I saw this mother interviewed on Greta a few weeks back. It was like watching a train wreck. Poor Greta (LOL) must have wondered how this lady managed to slip through the screening process. If FOX didn't have a screening procedure, safe bet they had one by the end of that day.
It was very very sad. It appeared that the woman's brain had been seriously fried on drugs. So much so, that I considered that the baby was damaged because her DNA had mutated.
She was rambling on about the sun, and how "Sun" (the baby) was sent by the sun, etc. If you could imagine the demeanor of a Farakhan devotee - dutifully waiting for the mothership - that was what she looked and sounded like.
The medical and ethical issues regarding the child's care are complicated enough, without the "help" of the sun. Ugh.
Without knowing more it's hard to say for sure, but it sounds as if this was a legitimate decision. If honest doctors declare that the baby will never improve, then taking her off a ventilator is quite a different matter from depriving her of food and water.
I don't trust hospital ethicists, because they are trained in bogus programs and paid by hospitals. But it sounds like the right decision in this case.
I wish the court order had gone further and required Sun's mother to get her tubes tied. This is seriously one woman who should not be producing babies in the future.
It's not only that, but the baby will contineu to grow with lungs that never grow. It only gets worse with time.
Realistically, the question is how long do we prolong the torture of this individual, and to what purpose?
I'm not trying to be a butthead here, believe me. Based on what I read here and what I know as a physician, this is in all likelihood what needs to be done.
But how can the court be afraid of causing the mother more grief in getting a bonafide declaration of mental incompetence in this case than withdrawing care from a neonate?
When the government gets involved in deciding life and death issues, I would really feel much better if independant, non-government, medically qualified professionals render professional opinions as to the caretaker's mental competence before deciding life and death outcomes.
Yes, this child will most certainly die in the near term and I am more than certain that the children's hospital will ensure it to be as painless as possible even if life support is not withdrawn...but court cases set legal precedent and I want to see the boxes checked, i's dotted and t's crossed before courts (and hospitals which have financial stakes in these matters)make decisions to withdraw life support just because a parent seems 'unreasonable' and possibly mentally incompetent. The mother's 'grief' level in this case becomes secondary to the concerns for the infant who cannot decide for himself.
Maybe I just have a phobia of gevernments making these kinds of decisions...
The woman is in such a bad state, that whoever the "father" is, he is guilty of abusing and assaulting the mentally handicapped. I wonder if he told her that he was the sun god and she was his "chosen vessel".
Ironic...this article was in the USA Today....just today.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-03-13-expandable-ribs_x.htm
Expandable rib gives children room to breathe.
It's about a new FDA approved prosthetic that is used to expand a child's ribcage so that the lungs can grow as they need to.
We both know that the hospital can't afford to keep someone on expensive life support forever when they have no hope to recover, despite what the non-paying family member wishes.
We're certain to have more of these "end of life" legal cases as the medical profession is able to extend life through devices, medicines, or therapies far beyond previous boundaries.
Quality of life, the right to enjoy it or perhaps endure it (not to mention PAY FOR IT), is a new legal and medical frontier.
Wonder where Sun's father is. Or even who.
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