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Hospital ends life support of baby; 1st U.S. case of its kind is against mom's wish
KVUE ^ | 3.15.05

Posted on 03/21/2005 5:14:06 PM PST by ambrose

Hospital ends life support of baby

1st U.S. case of its kind is against mom's wish, in accordance with law

10:52 PM CST on Tuesday, March 15, 2005

By BRUCE NICHOLS / The Dallas Morning NEws

HOUSTON — In what medical ethicists say is a first in the United States, a hospital acting under state law, with the concurrence of a judge, disconnected a critically ill baby from life support Tuesday over his mother's objections.

The baby, Sun Hudson, who'd been on a mechanical ventilator since his birth Sept. 25, died quickly afterward, his mother said.

"I held him ... I talked to him. I told him I love him," said the child's mother, Wanda Hudson. Then doctors took the mechanical breathing tube out, the child took a couple of breaths, struggled briefly in her arms and it was over, Ms. Hudson said.

She never shed a tear and explained why she wasn't showing emotion. "I was prepared for this," she said.

Doctors did not join her in meeting reporters, but Texas Children's Hospital issued a statement that it was "deeply saddened." The baby died of the effects of thanatophoric dysplasia, a form of dwarfism that impairs lung and chest cavity development and is "a lethal and incurable genetic deformity."

The death ended a court battle that began in mid-November when Ms. Hudson, a 33-year-old unemployed dental assistant, opposed doctors when they decided continuing life support was futile, unethical and medically inappropriate. Probate Judge William McCulloch cleared the way for removal of mechanical ventilation from the baby Monday.

There have been other cases elsewhere in which courts intervened, but the Hudson case was the first to reach the end stage, said Dr. John Paris, a bioethicist at Boston College.

"It's a first in the United States," he said. "It's not a first in the world. There was a similar case in England."

The hospital acted under a Texas law passed in 1999 that allows attending physicians, in consultation with a hospital bioethics committee, to discontinue life support when a patient's condition is hopeless. The law gives a parent or guardian 10 days to find another hospital or institution. After that, the hospital is free to act.

Texas Children's officials, and Ms. Hudson's lawyer, Mario Caballero, called dozens of institutions and none was willing to take the child, officials said.

Ending life support

With modern technology keeping more and more people alive who would have died in the past, the question of whether to end artificial life support increasingly arises, said Joan Krause, an expert on health care law at the University of Houston.

But parents and guardians usually go along with doctors' decisions. "The vast majority of cases end quietly," she said.

In the Hudson case, the hospital encouraged the mother to go to court and agreed to pay her lawyer after concern arose about her mental state. She said "the sun that shines in the sky," not a man, fathered her child and would decide its fate. She repeated her belief Tuesday.

Push came to shove Nov. 18, when the hospital's bioethics committee endorsed the recommendation of attending physician Peter Hainey to end life support. The hospital agreed to several extensions of the 10 days to seek alternative care but in January began pushing for a resolution.

Judge McCulloch in February lifted a restraining order barring the hospital from removing life support, but the 1st Court of Appeals stayed his order then sent the case back for correction of a procedural error. When that was done, the judge renewed his order, and Ms. Hudson's lawyer did not pursue his appeal further.

Mr. Caballero said he was a solo practitioner without the resources to go forward.

"I only have two arms and two legs," he said. He expressed disappointment that groups interested in right-to-life issues did not come forward to help him.

First state with law

The law under which the hospital acted was a compromise passed with the participation from the right-to-life lobby, Ms. Krause said. Their main focus has been opposing an artificial end to life through abortion, not an end to artificial support for life, although they've intervened in some cases, analysts said.

Texas was the first state to enact such a law, followed by California, Dr. Paris said.

"Texas is way ahead of everybody else," he said. "Judges don't want to issue these rulings. They want somebody else to do it."

The Texas law has not been tested before the highest courts.

Judge McCulloch took pains at a hearing to explain that he wasn't ordering the hospital to end life support, merely ruling that under the law, the hospital had done its duty, acted properly and was free to remove mechanical ventilation.

Ms. Hudson said her son had grown to more than 17 pounds while on life support, and that he "opened his eyes, moved his tongue" and moved around when she held him at the end.

"That was not the body," she said, expressing faith that she would see her son again. "As long as the sun's shining in the sky, my son's still here."

Hospital officials disputed her account, saying the baby has always been sedated and unresponsive.

Ms. Hudson said she'd made no funeral plans and would not attend if one were held. She said her parents, who did not talk to the news media and disapproved "of my talking about the sun," might be present.

Ms. Hudson said she's not angry but wants an autopsy and warned, "This is not over." She did not clarify what she meant. She complained that Texas Children's officials briefly put her in a psychiatric unit. Hospital officials denied it.

Ms. Hudson's lawyer, Mr. Caballero, is also involved in another Houston case, that of 68-year-old Spiro Nikolouzos, a retired electrical engineer. St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital wants to remove him from life support, but the patient's wife, Jannette, has gone to court to force continued care.

E-mail bnichols@dallasnews.com


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: deathcultivation; sun; sunbeam; sunhudson; terrischiavo
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1 posted on 03/21/2005 5:14:06 PM PST by ambrose
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To: Howlin
Mr. Caballero said he was a solo practitioner without the resources to go forward. "I only have two arms and two legs," he said. He expressed disappointment that groups interested in right-to-life issues did not come forward to help him.

Some people apparently are more worthy of "saving" than others...

2 posted on 03/21/2005 5:16:05 PM PST by ambrose (....)
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To: ambrose

Don't stir the pot, Ambrose.


3 posted on 03/21/2005 5:16:13 PM PST by annyokie (Laissez les bons temps rouler !)
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To: ambrose

I just happend to have this link handy from a Terri Thread.
I'm assuming (not sure) that this is the law they are talking about.

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/statutes/docs/HS/content/htm/hs.002.00.000166.00.htm

To find the section, do a search for the phrase "When There Is A Disagreement About Medical Treatment"


4 posted on 03/21/2005 5:19:04 PM PST by ndt
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To: ambrose

this baby had a terminal condition that was tragic...I think it would have been more cruel to subject the baby to anymore measures.....he is in God's Kingdom now.


5 posted on 03/21/2005 5:20:59 PM PST by NorCalRepub
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To: ambrose
"It's a first in the United States," he said.

But, definitely not the last.

This is the slippery slope that started in Europe, and found its way here. This baby is probably a "test case", and who knows what baby is next?

6 posted on 03/21/2005 5:22:19 PM PST by Noachian (To Control the Judiciary The People Must First Control The Congress)
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To: ambrose
If this wasn't a case for pulling the plug, nothing is. It's ridiculous how this played out.

The mother is a psycho who claimed that the baby would never die. She also claimed the Sun was the baby's father, never explaining how she got close enough to copulate.

The baby had an accute case of this affliction, and not one doctor in the entire country suggested that the baby wasn't terminal.

This was the biggest waste of legal and medical resources in recent history.

7 posted on 03/21/2005 5:23:51 PM PST by Dog Gone
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To: ambrose
See what is happening in this country. It will not be long before they will start putting down, excuse me, euthanizing people like alzheimers patients, the mentally retarded, the ugly, the fat, etc.

When will it end.

8 posted on 03/21/2005 5:24:20 PM PST by technomage
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To: ambrose

Some people apparently are more worthy of "saving" than others...


Nazi Germany Part II.


9 posted on 03/21/2005 5:24:28 PM PST by JonDavid
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To: NorCalRepub
this baby had a terminal condition that was tragic...I think it would have been more cruel to subject the baby to anymore measures.....he is in God's Kingdom now.

This is exactly the reasoning those who want to kill Terri use. Why should the government have this right?

10 posted on 03/21/2005 5:26:23 PM PST by Americalover
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To: ambrose

Well thank GOD the Fed didn't get involved! Whoo! Now THAT would have been AWFUL! Who cares about a baby, it's a state's rights issue! Wow, we dodged a bullet on this one--the nation would have crumbled if some federal judge got involved, that's all I can say, since that's the most important thing! Whew!


11 posted on 03/21/2005 5:26:33 PM PST by Darkwolf377 (Agnostic for life)
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To: ambrose

I heard Boortz mention that.

"Some people apparently are more worthy of "saving" than others..."

It isn't a question of worth. It's a question of awareness. Do you realize how much was going on while Clinton was in office? Even a Partial Birth Abortion ban was a knock-down-drag-out fight. You think people didn't or don't care? Think again!

Then there is the 'anchor baby' problem. While Bush doesn't take borders seriously, he did have to keep the hospitals running.

Lastly, but this won't matter to Boortz, the parents in this case want to cover the costs. That's a big difference in my book.


12 posted on 03/21/2005 5:26:37 PM PST by Arthur Wildfire! March (<<<< Profile page streamlined, solely devoted Schiavo research)
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To: cpforlife.org

Ping. This is something Boortz brought up to undermine pro-life credibility. FReegards....


13 posted on 03/21/2005 5:28:44 PM PST by Arthur Wildfire! March (<<<< Profile page streamlined, solely devoted Schiavo research)
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To: Americalover

I understand but his condition was inoperable and incurable etc.....Terri is an adult, this baby would not have survived period, the lungs would not have grown....sometimes I think love means not letting one suffer as well if possible......


14 posted on 03/21/2005 5:30:27 PM PST by NorCalRepub
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To: Noachian

Babies, young children, teens, young adults, and on up to geriatrics. The slippery slope will not "err on the side of life" but of death.


15 posted on 03/21/2005 5:30:35 PM PST by sarasota
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To: ambrose
Ms. Hudson's lawyer, Mr. Caballero, is also involved in another Houston case, that of 68-year-old Spiro Nikolouzos, a retired electrical engineer. St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital wants to remove him from life support, but the patient's wife, Jannette, has gone to court to force continued care.

Mr. Nikolouzos was moved to Avalon Place, a nursing home in San Antonio yesterday. It is one of eight homes in TX which can care for patients on ventilators.

16 posted on 03/21/2005 5:30:39 PM PST by sockmonkey
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To: Arthur Wildfire! March

Florida's Medicare is going to pay Teri's bills.

George W. Bush signed that bill into law. It does say some lives are more valuable than others, which is despicable.


17 posted on 03/21/2005 5:30:45 PM PST by Americalover
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To: Darkwolf377

oh stop.....your sarcasm is noted big guy.......you were being sarcastic weren't you?????????.......LOL


18 posted on 03/21/2005 5:31:33 PM PST by NorCalRepub
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To: ambrose
Well, at least in this case it was a breathing machine, and it was a law put in place by the legislature not a judicial decree.

Really feel for the mom-must be difficult.

19 posted on 03/21/2005 5:31:42 PM PST by housewife101
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To: NorCalRepub
He is in God's Kingdom now.

If people really, deeply believe there is a heaven, and that innocent people who die will spend eternity in the glory of God's presence, why do they simultaneously work so hard to keep the Terri Schiavos of the world in this world?

20 posted on 03/21/2005 5:31:57 PM PST by Wolfstar (If you can lead, do it. If you can't, follow. If you can't do either, become a Democrat.)
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