Foreigner Saved from Being Starved and Dehydrated to Death in American Hospital

LifeSiteNews ^ | 5/23/08 | Matthew Cullinan Hoffman

[wagglebee]

FORT WORTH, TEXAS, May 22, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Peruvian man whose American doctors reportedly sought to starve and dehydrate him to death was spared Wednesday after the family alerted the Peruvian media and a pro-life Texas attorney intervened in the case.

According to Peruvian media reports, Jesus Sanchez, 56, had been in a coma for over five months in John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, after suffering a heart attack after a soccer game. 

After the hospital's board of ethics reviewed his case, his condition was pronounced "irreversible".  The hospital announced that it would deprive Sanchez of food and fluids until he died, reported the Peruvian publication El Comercio.  His starvation and dehydration would begin within ten days if a transfer could not be arranged to another hospital.

However, according to Lucio Portilla of the Peruvian National Institute of Neurological Sciences, Sanchez was regaining consciousness, and was blinking and swallowing.  He told Radio Programs of Peru (RPP) that his hospital was "100%" certain of its willingness to receive Sanchez and care for him.

Although Sanchez and his two children were living in the United States legally, Sanchez had no access to Medicare, and his children had no way to pay for a medical evacuation to Peru, which could cost anywhere from $50,000 to $80,000.

"Since my father became ill I have had to work at night and abandon my pre-university studies.  My sister also works in a clothing factory.  Despite the effort we don't have the ability to save the $50,000 to rent an air ambulance to return my father to Peru," Jesus Sanchez told El Comercio.

After Sanchez´ wife and children made a desperate appeal through the Peruvian media only two days before the deadline for his removal, Peruvians responded generously and the family was surprised to receive $10,000 in a very short period of time.  It was not sufficient for the flight, however.

Family members contacted Texas Right to Life which referred them to pro-life attorney Bill Collins, who began negotiations with the hospital's attorney.  Two Catholic organizations and one Protestant organization also intervened in the case, according to media reports.

After heavy negative coverage in the Peruvian media, protests from Peruvians living in Texas, and the intervention of Collins and other Texas pro-lifers, John Peter Smith Hospital agreed to pay for the flight, which reportedly cost $80,000.

Adam Black, Political Director of Texas Right to Life told LifeSiteNews.com that the State of Texas is one of only two in the United States with a "10 day law" allowing patients to be euthanized through dehydration or starvation within ten days of notifying family members of their intention to do so.  If no transfer can be made to another hospital, the patient will die.

Black said that two patients have died under the terms of the law.  He also said that he is aware of several cases of patients who were transferred in time and survived despite their diagnoses, and are now living normal lives.

Family members told El Comercio that they thought that the real reason the hospital wanted to euthanize Sanchez was the price of his medical care, which was estimated at $3,000 a day.  Although Sanchez is a legal resident of the United States, his medical expenses are not covered by Medicaid.

"Here, there is no heart" one American attorney commented to RPP. "The problem is the cost."

For more information about the Texas "10 Day" law:

Texas Right to Life
http://www.texasrighttolife.com

[wagglebee]

Black said that two patients have died under the terms of the law. He also said that he is aware of several cases of patients who were transferred in time and survived despite their diagnoses, and are now living normal lives.

And yet the culture of death thinks ten days is enough.

[wagglebee]

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[wagglebee]

I wonder how many of the deathbots will wrongly assume he is in the country illegally and feel that he deserves to die for that if nothing else.

[Nachum]

If only Terry Schiavo had been from Peru.

[wagglebee]

Or a criminal.

[rom]

It is a sad day when you have to airlift a person OUT of an American Hospital to a 3rd world one so that they may live.

[wagglebee]

It certainly is.

[Cyber Liberty]

Good thing for this guy he wasn’t in Crist’s Florida.

[raybbr]

After heavy negative coverage in the Peruvian media, protests from Peruvians living in Texas, and the intervention of Collins and other Texas pro-lifers, John Peter Smith Hospital agreed to pay for the flight, which reportedly cost $80,000.

Eighty grand? What a scam.

[JRandomFreeper]

I hope my children won't wait 10 days.

No heroic measures to be applied here. I've stated that clearly.

And I wait to wake up to something besides a full bladder and catz wanting food.... Angels singing would be good.

Besides, the VA couldn't be concerned about an old vet when they have others to worry about.

/johnny

[livius]

10 days? Egads.

[livius]

Food and water are not heroic measures. Sometimes the body needs a little while to recover. Who knows what unfinished business this man may have had - or what you might have at some point in the future.

I think an “old vet” is definitely worth being concerned about. We don’t have to choose between the old vet and the young vet. Everybody should get the care that is appropriate for them; perhaps more heroic measures are in order for a strong young guy badly wounded in battle than for an older, frailer person who probably wouldn’t even survive the heroic measures. But food and water are appropriate for everyone.

[donna]

So, what’s your plan to pay for the heath care of these people?

[mathurine]

Sounds like typical media horsesh** to me.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

As an aside, it is critically important to remember a very important discovery, if any member of your family or friends are transported to a hospital in an unconscious state. Importantly, this information may not be widely known in hospital emergency rooms.

Find out immediately if the oxygen they are being given has been pre-warmed. Cold oxygen may make a coma state much worse:

“Another documented case reports recovery of a small number of patients following the removal of assisted respiration with cold oxygen. The researchers found that in many nursing homes and hospitals unheated oxygen is given to non-responsive patients via tracheal intubation.

This bypasses the warming of the upper respiratory tract and causes a chilling of aortic blood and chilling of the brain.

The researchers describe a small number of cases in which removal of the chilled oxygen was followed by recovery from the PVS and recommend either warming of oxygen with a heated nebulizer or removal of the assisted oxygen if it is no longer needed.

The authors further recommend additional research to determine if this chilling effect may either delay recovery or even may contribute to brain damage.”

* Ford GP and Reardon DC (Aug 2006). “Prolonged unintended brain cooling may inhibit recovery from brain injuries: case study and literature review”. Med Sci Monit. 12 (8): CS74-79.

(I would also add that if the patient is elderly, very cold or iced beverages should be avoided in the hospital, as it could cause internal hypothermia, and cause convulsions, or worse. If possible, ask elderly relatives and friends if they prefer to drink room temperature or warm beverages, or if they do not care for cold or iced beverages. This could be a lifesaver.)

[Puddleglum]

Texas aint shining in the press lately.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Let me add an important provision to this.

In the case of stroke, some hospitals are now inducing hypothermia along with anti-convulsants to prevent shivering. This is because they have discovered that cooling the brain after a stroke may strongly limit a cycle in which brain damage results in further brain damage.

[johniegrad]

"Since my father became ill I have had to work at night and abandon my pre-university studies. My sister also works in a clothing factory. Despite the effort we don't have the ability to save the $50,000 to rent an air ambulance to return my father to Peru," Jesus Sanchez told El Comerc

NFW.

[AuntB]

They make a case for a brain dead illegal alien that WE are supporting?

Here’s one for you.

About 3 years ago, my x husband in LA was in a car wreck. Knocked out, broken leg, ankle, sternum. The ambulance took him to LA general (I may have the name wrong-nasty place never the less). He laid there, without xrays for over a week. They would drug him once in a while, thank God. They refused to bring him a phone. No one knew where he was. I finally got hold of someone and they went there. NO ONE spoke English. My daughter and son drove 750 miles to get him out. At first they wouldn’t release him. They never met my daughter.....hell, I’m afraid of her! He’s a Viet Nam vet. Volunteered. Now he’s in a wheelchair, helpless and hopeless, living with my daughter and her family.

Tell me this stuff doesn’t affect us badly? Bull.

I’m sick of this crap.