Disability Rights Wisconsin, the group that petitioned for the use of restraints to become illegal in Wisconsin, has sued the University of Washington Hospital for withholding food, water and treatment from two patients with developmental disabilities.
The patients, whose names have not been publicly released, both had pneumonia that would probably not have been terminal on its own. In both cases, Disability Rights Wisconsin alleges that UW Hospital encouraged the patients' families to disconnect them from both treatment and nourishment, and that the hospital's policies for situations such as these are flawed.
In one case, "J.L.", a 79-year-old man, was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia. Dr. Julia Wright suggested his family withhold medication and avoid using a feeding tube, arguing that J.L.'s quality of life would be unacceptably low if he were treated.When J.L. woke up the next morning and asked to eat, his family reversed its decision, but had to fight with Dr. Wright in order to get treatment for him.
The second case involved a 13-year-old boy identified as "M.E." who also had pneumonia. In the summer of 2006, due to his "poor prognosis and poor quality of life," his parents made a deal with UW Hospital that he would receive limited treatment for future health problems. That November, M.E. contracted pneumonia and the group home he lived in sought antibiotic treatment. The hospital denied treatment, citing the parents' order, so the group home gave him treatment anyway. M.E.'s parents found out about this and had their son moved to UW Hospital and later hospice care, where he was denied food and treatment and died later in the month.
Disability Rights Wisconsin is not suing for damages, but to change hospital policy and recover the $4,700 it spent on the investigation, plus court costs. Its attorney, Mitch Hagopian, says that the problem is not with the hospital's standards of care, but that it is too quick to "pull the plug" on patients with disabilities.
UW Hospital is "a great medical institution. They provide great care to their
patients. All we want is for them to provide that same
great care to developmentally disabled people who are not dying," Hagopian says. The hospital's attorney disagrees, arguing that what is at stake here is the right of patients and their families to choose their own treatment.
What do you think? Is it the hospital's responsibility to supercede the parents' wishes in situations like these, or was UW Hospital acting within its rights?
Related: Stories about people with developmental disabilities
Photo credit: cobalt123
