Posted on 04/07/2005 5:34:06 PM PDT by News Hunter
Edited on 04/07/2005 5:39:05 PM PDT by Sidebar Moderator. [history]
In a situation recalling the recent death of Terri Schindler-Schiavo in Florida, an 81-year-old widow, denied nourishment and fluids for nearly two weeks, is clinging to life in a hospice in LaGrange, Ga., while her immediate family fights desperately to save her life before she dies of starvation and dehydration.
Mae Magouirk was neither terminally ill, comatose nor in a "vegetative state," when Hospice-LaGrange accepted her as a patient about two weeks ago upon the request of her granddaughter, Beth Gaddy, 36, an elementary school teacher.Also upon Gaddy's request and without prior legal authority, since March 28 Hospice-LaGrange has denied Magouirk normal nourishment or fluids via a feeding tube through her nose or fluids via an IV. She has been kept sedated with morphine and ativan, a powerful tranquillizer.
Her nephew, Ken Mullinax, told WorldNetDaily that although Magouirk is given morphine and ativan, she has not received any medication to keep her eyes lubricated during her forced dehydration.
"They haven't given her anything like that for two weeks," said Mullinax. "She can't produce tears."
The dehydration is being done in defiance of Magouirk's specific wishes, which she set down in a "living will," and without agreement of her closest living next-of-kin, two siblings and a nephew: A. Byron McLeod, 64, of Anniston, Ga.; Ruth Mullinax, 74, of Birmingham, Ala.; and Ruth Mullinax's son, Ken Mullinax.
Magouirk's husband and only child, a son, are both deceased.
In her living will, Magouirk stated that fluids and nourishment were to be withheld only if she were either comatose or "vegetative," and she is neither. Nor is she terminally ill, which is generally a requirement for admission to a hospice.
Magouirk lives alone in LaGrange, though because of glaucoma she relied on her granddaughter, Beth Gaddy, to bring her food and do errands.
Two weeks ago, Magouirk's aorta had a dissection, and she was hospitalized in the local LaGrange Hospital. Her aortic problem was determined to be severe, and she was admitted to the intensive care unit. At the time of her admission she was lucid and had never been diagnosed with dementia.
Claiming that she held Magouirk's power of attorney, Gaddy had her transferred to Hospice-LaGrange, a 16-bed unit owned by the same family that owns the hospital. Once at the hospice, Gaddy stated that she did not want her grandmother fed or given water.
"Grandmama is old and I think it is time she went home to Jesus," Gaddy told Magouirk's brother and nephew, McLeod and Ken Mullinax. "She has glaucoma and now this heart problem, and who would want to live with disabilities like these?"
Gaddy's telephone is not in operation and she could not be reached for comment.
According to Mullinax, his aunt's local cardiologist in LaGrange, Dr. James Brennan, and Dr. Raed Agel, a highly acclaimed cardiologist at the nationally renowned University of Alabama-Birmingham Medical Center, determined that her aortic dissection is contained and not life-threatening at the moment.
Mullinax also states that Gaddy did not hold power of attorney, a fact he learned from the hospice's in-house legal counsel, Carol Todd.
On March 31, Todd told Ruth and Ken Mullinax during a phone conversation Georgia law stipulated that Ruth Mullinax and her brother, A.B. McLeod, were entitled to make any and all decisions for Magouirk. Ruth Mullinax immediately told Todd to begin administering food and fluids through an IV and a nasal feeding tube.
Todd had the IV fluids started that evening, but informed the family that they would have to come to the hospice to sign papers to have the feeding tube inserted. Once that was done, Magouirk would not be able to stay at the hospice.
Ken Mullinax recalled that Todd said the only reason Magouirk was in the hospice in the first place was that the LaGrange Hospital had failed to exercise due diligence in closely examining the power of attorney Beth Gaddy said she had, as well as exercising the provisions of Magouirk's living will.
Todd explained that Gaddy had only a financial power of attorney, not a medical power of attorney, and Magouirk's living will carefully provided that a feeding tube and fluids should only be discontinued if she was comatose or in a "vegetative state" – and she was neither.
Gaddy, however, was not dissuaded. When Ken Mullinax and McLeod showed up at the hospice the following day, April 1, to meet with Todd and arrange emergency air transport for Magouirk's transfer to the University of Alabama-Birmingham Medical Center, Hospice-LaGrange stalled them while Gaddy went before Troup County, Ga., Probate Court Judge Donald W. Boyd and obtained an emergency guardianship over her grandmother.
Under the terms of his ruling, Gaddy was granted full and absolute authority over Magouirk, at least for the weekend. She took advantage of her judge-granted power by ordering her grandmother's feeding tube pulled out, just hours after it had been inserted.
Florida law requires that a hearing for an emergency guardianship must be held within three days of its request, and Magouirk's hearing was held April 4 before Judge Boyd. Apparently, he has not made a final ruling, but favors giving permanent guardianship power to Gaddy, who is anxious to end her grandmother's life.
Ron Panzer, president and founder of Hospice Patients Alliance, a patients' rights advocacy group based in Michigan, told WND that what is happening to Magouirk is not at all unusual.
"This is happening in hospices all over the country," he said. "Patients who are not dying – are not terminal – are admitted [to hospice] and the hospice will say they are terminally ill even if they're not. There are thousands of cases like this. Patients are given morphine and ativan to sedate them. If feeding is withheld, they die within 10 days to two weeks. It's really just a form of euthanasia."
Ken Mullinax does not want that to happen to his aunt. He pointed out that one of the ironies in this tragedy is that the now-helpless woman worked for years as a secretary for a prominent local cancer doctor.
"She devoted her whole life to helping those who heal others, and now she's being denied sustenance for life," he said.
Mullinax said he has begged Gaddy to let him take on full responsibility for his aunt's care.
"If she would just give us a chance to keep Aunt Mae alive, that's all we ask," he said. "They [Beth and her husband, Dennis Gaddy] have a family and Beth is a teacher, and it was just getting to be a lot of trouble. But I'm the caregiver for my mom, and Aunt Mae could move in with us. We'll buy another house with a bedroom and we'll take care of her. She can move in with us once she can leave the hospital."
But her health becomes more precarious by the hour. Her vital signs are still good, but since admission to hospice she has not been lucid – "but who would be since nourishment and fluids have been denied since March 28," Mullinax remarked.
Attorney Carol Todd could not be reached for comment; a message on her voicemail said she would not be gone the entire week of April 4. Hospice-LaGrange did not return phone calls.
Besides, we need that money Grandmama will be using for her health care so we can take care of the children of the illegal Mexicans. Remember folks, you heard it here first.
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swampy.... your brilliance is awesome... why didn't I think of the ILL MEX connexion ???
Wow! could this be the 'final solution' to the homeless problem? Just tatoo a notice on their forehead:
Do Not Feed by order of the court.
I agree wholeheartedly. Terri's murder was a state sanctioned murder of an innocent life. That slippery slope pointed to in the early days of the abortion debate is now a reality.
Are you aware of the abortion recently in the UK, where the doctors recommended abortion because the child was going to be born with a horrible birth defect, called, "cleft pallet"?
We can thank Darwinism for much of this.
* bump * for thread visibility. This story is not making much of an impression in the public arena, yet.
Bump again.
We're on the Black Diamond slope straight to hell.
This definitely needs more coverage.
Thank you for posting the numbers. Ironically enough, the governor's office was the only place I could get through. I begged them to take more action than Florida did. They said they were "looking into it," for whatever that's worth.
It's funny how in the Schiavo case so many people argued about how a living will would solve the problem. Now that the will is worth nothing, we get the argument about not having all the facts, or that "who would want to live under such circumstances. Pretty soon the reply will be, "who would want to live deaf or blind, or Jewish?"
No apologies necessary, but yes, they put it out so fast, they forgot to edit it, and corrected it today.
THAT SAID, does that negate the entire factual basis for the story?
I don't know and I'm sure neither do you. I did not state that the story or some part of it may be true, just that WND is not going to be my usual source for information as its agenda does not include fair and balanced. For those ready to rock and roll with this, I suggested an approach that at least heard the side of the judge, Gaddy and the hospice. Then perhaps judgments may be at least based on complete information, something many here seem little interested in.
FAN THE FLAMES? Oh yeah, that's great!!!! Never mind that this "may" be yet another case of "state-sponsored, MURDER."
Anytime a "news" source runs with only one side of tragic story such as this, for obvious reasons, and so quickly that it could not even edit out obvious errors, I would say yes, fan the flames. BTW, I'm glad you used the word "MAY".
Let us "Shoot the Messenger" if "whoever they are" does not comport to "your" perceived standards of what constitutes a "legitimate/believable" news media outlet.
I'm suggesting shooting no one, merely asking an organization that calls itself "news" to act like one, and spend some time garnering all the facts, not just the ones that will support its agenda.
Had I read that the reporter spoke with anyone on the other side of its charges, it might have impressed me just a tad more.
Is he also NOT to be believed, or are you simply one of the many "Pro-Death" supporters I have been exposed to over the past several weeks re: Terri Schiavo?
If he did his homework then he could be more believable. You aren't suggesting that Glenn Beck is an impartial news source though, are you? As for the Pro-death crowd, not sure what you are referring to. Most of us on FR who have questioned the insanity of the circus, and the absurd federal intervention are labeled pro-death. And I'm certainly sorry that simply asking for all sides of an issue causes you such discomfort. It's an old trick that conservatives used to use to flush out the ridiculous liberal rants.
Or how about just plain ol' depressed?
As in, "I'm tired of living. Why can't I just be pumped full of morphine?"
Guess what? FR is pro-life. In all cases. Most people on FR read WorldNetDaily and Newsmax for information and news.
Why don't you just come out and say what you really mean and think? Quit beating around the bush and just admit that you have no problem with what is going on. I mean, WorldNetDaily is reporting it, it must be a lie.
The president cannot intervene in every case, since this is happening all over the country; but a new law making hospices and reckless judges accountable in such starvation cases needs to be enacted asap in order to establish severe penalties for such actions. Executive intervention in one case followed by a bill signed into law could set the precedent.
In order to address your complaint about being labeled "pro-death,"
How did you vote on the latest FR poll: "Was it wrong to kill Terri Shiavo?"
Yes/No?
I was asked for permission to do this to my mother when she was admitted to JFK hospital in Cherry Hill, NJ, after suffering a fall. She was about 89 and the doctor said that she had lived a good long life and that I should consider the quality of life that she would have if she recovered.
Sickening. How could a doctor even suggest such a thing?
One of the barriers to executive action is the formal structure of our legal system. The executive has power to intervene in criminal and law enforcement actions, but these cases are heard and orders come from judges in civil courts. Civil courts are designed to handle property - money matters, generally, not the taking of life.
Legislators have demonstrated over the years that they are, for the most part, a spineless lot. But they could divest civil courts of jurisdiction to hear and decide cases involving living wills or the withholding of medical care when that wihholding becomes the primary agent of death.
http://www.glennbeck.com/audio/free-audio.shtml
Adio of the interveiw of the nephew of his 81 year old aunt
http://www.glennbeck.com/audio/free-audio.shtml
SO make these cases a matter for criminal courts, and then perhaps the executive could set a precedent for intervening. Our country is in DESPERATE need of a leader with the will to truly lead and stand tall against courruption, ala Reagan or TH. Roosevelt, or Lincoln.
Thanks for the ping!
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