Texas Child Denied Regular Care

Texas futile care law might be killing again. Read this and tell me that the medical profession (at least those involved here) don’t want people more dead than alive – and will deceive to do it. Shocking.

Mother pleads to doctor to restore son's food and water

A 12-year-old boy, Zach McDaniel (earlier reports claimed his last name was Fernandez), was secretly denied food and water and life-saving treatment while at a hospital in Fort Worth, Texas. His doctor also slipped a "do not resuscitate" order into the boy's chart without the knowledge and consent of his parents. more

Death Panels? Of Course!!

The Texas futility law has been in place for quite a while and continues to contribute to the medicalized death of people with severe medical disabilities.

Is the Texas Medical Futility Act a real-life "death panel"?

A patient identified only as "Willie" was denied nourishment and died in a Houston hospital last month, according to Texas Right to Life. Willie went to seek help a few weeks ago after experiencing chest pains; doctors found pneumonia and leukemia. Apparently, he slipped into a coma following surgery, and the doctor and hospital ethics board determined further care would be futile, giving the family 10 days to find another facility to treat him.

Though he had plenty of insurance, no other facility would accept him. After the legally required 10 days, the hospital ended nourishment.

He was "dehydrated and starved to death completely against the family's desire,” said Texas Right to Life’s Elizabeth Graham. more

The Ugliness Of Futile Care

Futile care issues seem to be on the backburner at the moment, but here’s a Texas case that revisits the issue. Futile care basically says that if any treatment won’t make someone better, it should be withdrawn, and it’s legal to do so in Texas.

Sugar Land boy in the middle of futile-care dispute dies

A Sugar Land boy whose brain cancer triggered the state's latest futile-care law controversy has died, six months after Texas Children's Hospital planned to remove his life support. more

Another Assisted Suicide Defense In Murder Cases

They're coming fast and furious now - murderers claiming that what they did was an assisted suicide. Uh-huh. As always, we'll never know, because the only person that could tell the truth is dead. In this case, however, it looks way more like murder than anything else.

Murder suspect's jury selection Tuesday in El Paso's 41st District Court

Travis Bob Kirchner says he helped his 81-year-old mother kill herself, but police said the circumstances surrounding her death met the criteria for foul play.
This week, a jury will decide whether or not Kirchner, 58, should be convicted of murder. more

Texas: The Futile Care Debate Continues

There have been several cases like this in Texas in recent years. Texas has a futile care law which essentially states that if treatment isn't going to make the patient better, and there is no hope of recovery, treatment can be stopped. Well, what if the family doesn't want the treatment stopped? Usually the hospital wins anyway.

How Long Should Texas Docs Treat Untreatable Patients? The Debate That Won't Go Away.

Jordan Allen's case will become part of Texas' annual debate over medical futility.

​Last week, just outside of Houston, a little boy's parents were scrambling. Doctors at Texas Children's Hospital had told them there was nothing more they could do for the boy, 14-year-old Jordan Allen, whose brain is dotted with inoperable tumors. He was on a ventilator and in a coma, and further treatment would have done him more harm than good, the doctors believed. They thought it was time to let him go.

The parents disagreed. And that disagreement guaranteed the family's place at the center of a decade-old fight pitting Texas doctors and hospitals against lawmakers and activists, over how long is too long to care for a patient who appears certain to die. more

Another Futile Care Battle In Texas

This happens with some frequency ion Texas, the first state in the US to articulate futile care at the end of life. It's always the same - hospital wants to let the child die, parents disagree. Media/legal fight ensues. In this case, the parents were able to transfer their terminally ill son to another facility that agreed to support him until his natural death.

Teen's move sidesteps futile-care controversy

A Sugar Land brain cancer patient was transferred from Texas Children's Hospital to a long-term acute-care facility on Thursday, beating the pediatric hospital's plan to remove his life support by five days. more

Texas Looks To Overhaul Futile Care legislation

Texas was the first state to enact futile care legislation in the late 90s. For many families, it's pitted their wishes against the more utilitarian views of doctors and hospitals. It's good to see that this problem is now being addressed by the Texas legislature.

House endorses study on end-of-life care

The Texas House voted today to order an interim study on a state law that governs how and when doctors can allow patients to die by withholding life-sustaining treatment against the wishes of family members. more

Texas Opponents Of Futile Care Put Up A Fight

The idea of futile care is simple: Money should be spent on people who can get better. Unfortunately it's permeated our laws, especially in Texas where futile care law was passed in 1999. It's been a disaster, and opponents are fighting ferociously to have it changed.

Sensitive topic of futile medical care faces long road in Legislature

For the fourth consecutive session, Texas legislators are struggling with the delicate issue of how and when doctors can allow patients to die by withholding life-sustaining treatment against the wishes of family members.

It's a nuanced, difficult question that can be ill-suited to the blunt-force nature of lawmaking.

And true to form, tackling the issue this legislative session has split allies, produced odd political alliances and resulted, thus far, in a stalemate. more

Texas Has This Case Right - It's Murder, Plain & Simple

Well, well. Here’s a classic case of what the pro-deathers want legalized – assisted suicide for all. I’m surprised the pro-deathers haven’t already rallied to Ostfeld’s defense with what a hero he is, etc., rather than what the state of Texas thinks he is (thank goodness) – a murderer.

Man accused of aiding Roseburg woman's suicide faces Texas judge

Roseburg's Jennifer Malone would have turned 31 next week. Instead of celebrating her birth, however, her family is clinging to hope that the man they blame for her death will be punished.

Jeffrey Ostfeld, 34, of Las Vegas is set to stand trial on Dec. 28 in Texas for smuggling animal tranquilizers into the United States from Mexico.

He has not been charged in Malone's May 18, 2009, death, but Texas media have reported there is a videotape purportedly made by Ostfeld showing Malone sitting in a hotel room, crying, complaining about the bitter taste of the tranquilizer and nausea, and saying, “I'm scared.” more

In Texas Judge Says Killing A Disabled Man Is Not Murder

Well here’s cute story (not). Texas woman admits killing her medically disabled husband. Gets 10 years probation for “injury to a disabled individual.” No kidding – I’d say killing someone is definitely an injury, wouldn’t you? I’ll bet that the sentence wouldn’t have been the same if her husband had not been medically disabled – then it would have been plain ol’ murder. Lesson taught? People with medical disabilities are of less value in the eyes of the law than others. How pathetic.

Woman who killed ailing husband gets probation

An Austin woman who gave her disabled husband a fatal drug cocktail before trying to kill herself last year was sentenced to 10 years probation Friday under a plea deal with prosecutors.

Katherine "Kim" Yarbrough, 53, pleaded guilty this month to injury to a disabled individual, a first-degree felony punishable by up to life in prison. Prosecutors waived a charge of murder with the plea. State District Judge Bob Perkins agreed to follow the plea agreement after reviewing a probation department report on the case.

Yarbrough, who spent several weeks in the hospital after attempting suicide, said little in court. In the hallway afterward, she hugged a group of friends who came to lend support. She declined to comment through her lawyer, David Sheppard. more