The latest from the ethics committee of St. Luke's

Do you remember Sun Hudson? I wrote an article about him a while back. More on that in a moment.

Meanwhile, there is this:

Quote:

life or death struggle is taking place at St. Luke’s Hospital, where doctors are planning to remove a woman from life support. The patient is not brain dead, and according to her family, she wants to live. KHOU-TV Andrea Clark has been at St. Luke's since November. They may be small in number, but the protesters said the bigger picture is the gravity of their message. “They just say, ‘well she’s miserable.’ Well, to me that’s a quality of life decision that is up to her and her family,” Lanore Dixon said. “That is not a medical decision.” Dixon is protesting on behalf of her sister Andrea Clark, a patient at St. Luke’s Hospital since November.

You can read the story and watch a video:
http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/khou060423_ac_lifesupport.6341ba3c.html

That St. Luke's thing bothered me. Yup, that is the same hospital that decided to let Sun Hudson die.

Who is on that ethics committee?

More from what seems like an interesting blog (note especially the last sentence from this quote):

Quote:

For years I have been warning that bioethicists are getting their ducks in a row to permit them to refuse wanted life sustaining treatment that is removed because it keeps the patient alive, not because it doesn't provide medical benefit. These are value judgments, not medical determinations. And now they are beginning to come. I commented about a futile care case in Michigan a few days ago, and here's another. I don't know enough about the facts of this case to opine completely, but this sure seems to be a futile care case in action. St. Luke's Hospital in Houston is going to unilaterally remove a woman from life support, even though her family wants her to continue to receive care. (It is as if Michael Schiavo and the Schindlers wanted Terri's care continued but the hospital said no.)

http://www.wesleyjsmith.com/blog/2006/04/medical-futility-on-march.html