...................................
Fresno County Public Guardian's Office had been the authorized health care decision maker for Janet Rivera, ever since it was determined that Rivera's husband was doing a poor job of handling her medical care.
Rivera's family initially agreed with the guardian's decision to stop her ventilator and ANH on the recommendation of health care providers. But after Janet began to breathe on her own and was clearly going to die solely because of the lack of ANH, the family no longer supported the guardian's decision. The family challenged the decision in court last week. The hearing on the merits was scheduled for today.
But the Fresno County, California court never reached the merits of the case. It never addressed whether the guardian acted appropriately under the Probate Code. It never addressed whether stopping ANH ws in Rivera's best interests. Instead, The county guardian apparently voluntarily agreed to step aside (at least temporarily) in favor of Suzanne Emrich, Rivera's cousin who lives in Santa Cruz County.
Citations
- Fox News, KMPH
(July 29, 2008) - ABC News, KFSN (July 29, 2008)
- Fresno Bee (July 29, 2008)
Janet Rivera - Replacing the Guardian
8mm
