Hospital to end life support

[lavenderdiva]

Why hasn't the MSM picked this up yet, I wonder. Since we had Schiavo news 24/7....

link: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/3157837

snip:
A San Antonio hospital has decided to withdraw life support from the Friendswood invalid whose family successfully fought a Houston facility with the same plans last month.

snip:
Spiro Nikolouzos' case attracted significant attention in Houston in March, the same time the Terri Schiavo drama reached its climax. It shone a light on a seldom-used Texas law that allows hospitals to remove a patient from life support 10 days after notifying family of its intentions. The family has that time to find an alternative facility.

snip:
On March 20, 19 days after St. Luke's notified Nikolouzos' family it planned to remove him from life support, the family transferred him to Avalon Place, a San Antonio long-term nursing home whose owner cited right-to-life beliefs as the reason for accepting him. Less than two weeks later, Southeast Baptist admitted Nikolouzos after he developed pneumonia.

There, Jannette Nikolouzos said, her husband fought off the pneumonia, but repeated problems with his feeding tube caused his doctors to remove it and provide his nutrition and medication intravenously instead. Doctors soon recommended discontinuing treatment and on April 20, the hospital's ethics committee agreed.

[Bozita]

1. Didn't Gov GW Bush sign the bill that allows for this?

So much for the "culture of life."

[Racenut20]

2. Didn't the "Bush Texas Law" ???

Allow the hospital to cut life support if they couldn't pay the bill? Thus the 10 day delay to relocate the patient before they do it?

[atreides1]

4. Culture of Life

Only applies to the daughters of religious fanatics. It doesn't apply to black babies or old men of Greek ancestry.

[underpants]

5. Yes he signed the "Futile Care Act" in 1999

Nice huh?

[lavenderdiva]

6. Sure did...

that's what really gets me: the total hypocrisy of Shrub's administration. Where is the outrage of the fundies if they really believe in the 'right to life'?

[ps1074]

3. Where are Delay and Santorum now?

:shrug:

[meganmonkey]

7. And Trailer-Hitch Jesus

He's my favorite :)

[Frances]

8. A Baptist hospital

is going to pull the plug. Anyone else notice that it's a fundamentalist church hospital?

From what I read, pulling the plug seems the most humane thing to do; however, I think the Texas law was not designed to do the humane thing, but the cheap thing.

[lavenderdiva]

9. How very interesting..

Wish I had noticed that! I agree with you about the whole situation. humane vs. cheap, cheap vs. humane DING, DING, DING! Cheap wins! Seems to be the case with Repubs, especially here in Texas.

[Bozita]

10. "dead broke" may now have a special meaning in Texas hospitals

[Ilsa]

18. It's not a laughing matter, but I LOL'ed anyway at your post. eom.

[sinkingfeeling]

11. Quick, someone living in Texas, call your Senators and Reps...

this must be stopped!! We need to shut down the US Congress and get a 'Teri Schiavo' type of law passed. Call all the local TV stations! Call Dobson and Falwell and all the fundies you can think of...just to see how they can explain they're failure to act EQUALLY in this case.

[AnneD]

12. I don't know if this counts as seldom used...

I know of 2 cases that have made it to court in Houston, this case and the Sun Hudson case..I expect to see more. Hospitals and health care in general are in bad way. Less gov reimbursements for Medicare/Medicade, more indigent care, less skilled staff (Nurses and Docs), equipment and drug costs through the roof, oh and lets not forget lawsuits for everyone. Now I think we can squeeze out more health care dollars if we cut out the insurance paperwork middle man (say with universal minimum coverage) and reduce the hefty salaries of the useless SOS health care CEO's. But, we do not have endless sums of money to provide health care for 5, 10, even 25 years. I am prepared for flames here, but I fear we may have to ration care. Many years ago, people in persistent vegetative comas did not live as long. The advent of respirators, feeding tubes and IV nutrition has created this nether world. Am I saying don't feed or give water and other comfort measures...no. Am I saying no vents, feeding tube, etc....well, if the could be an outcome with a good quality of life...it's worth a shot, give them a chance. But if it were me, and I had a poor prognosis, I would want my hubby or daughter to do what needed to be done (PULL THE PLUG) with out guilt and I damn sure wouldn't want to be some residents surgical experience. We talk in Nursing circles about the impending rationing of health care unless there are major changes.

[cheezus]

13. This issue isn't about life or death

it's about leaving that decision in the hands of the family, rather than the government.

[recoveringrepublican]

14. Agreed. It should also be taken out of the Doctors' hands. nt

[recoveringrepublican]

15. And it's Orthodox Easter on Sunday. Going to ASSume this family is

Greek Orthodox. Are the Fundies saying anything like "we will see Spiro rise 3 days after he dies"? Probably not, allowing an elderly man to live does nothing to further their agenda in making women walking wombs and not much else.

[Nothing Without Hope]

16. Looks like again the difference is being on a ventillator.

This man was apparently put on one when he got pneumonia - at least that's the way I'm interpreting what is written. He is being fed intravenously. He has been in a persistent vegetative state much less long a time than Ms. Schiavo was, only since 2001.

I think the fundies split hairs on this issue of when they think the lord wants perpetual life support for their own comfort - Ms. Schiavo could still breathe on her own and was fed through a feeding tube. Baby Sun was also on a ventillator.

Looks to me like being on a ventillator is life vs death for the fundies. If you get some pneomonia the way this patient did, and you need some help breathing until it is resolved, that's an excuse to pull the plug without any heavenly wrath descending on you.

I wonder if any of them ever wrote up a hair-splitting essay on what is a valid excuse for pulling the plug - not counting the proximity of network TV coverage and a strong need for a distractive maneuver. If so, it would be good to get a copy and look it over.

[LisaL]

36. The man is brain dead. He can not breathe on his own.

Terri Schiavo was not brain dead. There is nothing to be resolved with this guy-once you are brain dead, you can not be turned off ventilator-because you can not breathe on your own and never will be able too.

[Horse with no Name]

17. Yeah and if you remember

This man received a "stay" of execution after the Sun Hudson case and during the Schiavo carnivale.
My guess is just so that Delay and Bush wouldn't have to answer to it during this event.
Now, the Schiavo case has passed, and it's okay to kill him now.
So sad.
If the family wanted this to happen, I'd say great--that's their choice. But the fact that they are against it, just goes to show ya.:shrug:

[jwirr]

19. Okay guys I see the seriousness of this issue

but it seems the perfect time to post the "living will" my sister-law sent me today!

Attached is a draft of a living will that seems to answer our needs today:

I,____________(fill in the blank), being of sound mind and body, do not wish to be kept alive indefinitely by artificial means.

Under no circumstances should my fate be put in the hands of peckerwood politicians who couldn't pass ninth-grade biology if their lives depended on it.

If a reasonable amount of times passes and I fail to sit up and ask for a cold beer, it should be presumed that I won't ever get better. When such a determination is reached, I hereby instruct my spouse, children and attending physicians to pull the plug, reel in the tubes and call it a day.

Under no circumstances shall the members of the Legislature enact a special law to keep me on life-support machinery. It is my wish that these boneheads mind their own business, and pay attention instead to the health, education and future of the millions of Americans who aren't in a permanent coma.

Under no circumstances shall any politicians butt into this case.

I don't care how many fundamentalist votes they're trying to scrounge for their run for the presidency in 2008, it is my wish that they play politics with someone else's life and leave me alone to die in peace.

I couldn't care less if hundreds of religious zealots send e-mails to legislators in which they pretend to care about me. I don't know these people, and I certainly haven't authorized them to preach and crusade on my behalf. They should mind their own business, too.

If any of my family goes against my wishes and turns my case into a political cause, I hereby promise to come back from the grave and make his or her existence a living hell.

Signature Witness_______________

[NNN0LHI]

20. Hospital set to remove Houston man from life support

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/news/042805_APlocal_lifesupport.html

4/28/05 - SAN ANTONIO, TX) — A man in a persistent vegetative state whose family battled with a Houston hospital to stop his removal from life support is set to be removed from support Tuesday at a San Antonio hospital, his family said.

The family of Spiro Nikolouzos, 68, has vowed to keep him on life support and is trying to get him moved back to the nursing home where he was sent after leaving the Houston hospital. A nursing home official said Thursday they would take him back.

"I'm not going to let someone take his life support away now," said Nikolouzos' wife, Jannette. "They're trying to play God and I won't let them. I'll get him out of there if I have to get an ambulance myself."

Experts have highlighted his ordeal as one of a handful of cases to test a 1999 Texas law signed by then-Gov. George W. Bush. When a hospital and family disagree, the Advanced Medical Directives Act requires that the hospital wait 10 days before discontinuing life support to give relatives time to arrange for a transfer.

more

[Fenris]

21. Where are the priests? Where are the protestors?

Where are Senators Santorum and Frist? Where is Randall Terry?

[Nothing Without Hope]

22. There's another thread on this HERE, based on a newspaper article:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1430046

Some interesting comments.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

23. where oh where is the religious right on this one?

Why aren't they helping this family? Where is the moral outrage? Oh, I forgot. Doesn't fit into the Repuke agenda. Ignore.

[lavenderdiva]

24. well, well, well. Lookee at what I just read...

here is yet ANOTHER case of ANOTHER child in HOUSTON, where the hospital is wanting to terminate life support!

link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1431750

what is going on here in Houston? I live here, and am wondering if whenever I think I might be coming down with some disease or condition that may be terminal, I should move out of state? Seems all the hospitals around these parts are gung-ho to off me whether my family wants them to or not. In some of these cases, the family WANTED NO further treatment, and in some, the family wishes the life support continued. But since Shrub signed the infamous 1999 legislation allowing HOSPITALS to decide the course of treatment, not the family, it seems like all hell has broken loose.

Again, I have to ask, where is the MSM on this? Where are the Terry Schiavo jugglers? Where is Randall Terry? Why is noone outraged that this is even going on?

edit:
ps. please don't think I am a right-to-lifer... I'm not. I believe that each case should be looked at independently, and the person themselves hopefully, signed a document stating their wishes clearly. If not, then the family's wishes should be considered. Of course, there are cases beyond any medical intervention, and in those cases, I believe it is far more merciful to let them go. However, I see no outrage from those very persons who made such a mockery of our 'system' while the Schiavo case was ongoing.

[Moderator]

25. kick to combine

[liveoaktx]

26. Hospital to end life support-Houston woman faces second fight in 2 months

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/rssstory.mpl/metropolitan/3157837

**Remember this? Case came up the same time as Schiavo, same general circumstances, family wanted to keep husband alive, but in Texas, a hospital can pull the plug against a families wishes.

A San Antonio hospital has decided to withdraw life support from the Friendswood invalid whose family successfully fought a Houston facility with the same plans last month.

Southeast Baptist Hospital notified the family of Spiro Nikolouzos last week that doctors plan to turn of his ventilator and stop feeding him intravenously May 3. The notification followed the hospital ethics committee's determination that continued care would be futile.

"Can you believe a hospital's trying to do this again?" Nikolouzos' wife, Jannette, said. "It's very aggravating — I never thought this would happen again."

Jannette Nikolouzos said she and an adult son will travel to San Antonio to investigate their options, mostly whether they can find a doctor who will agree to reinsert her husband's feeding tube. Avalon Place, a San Antonio nursing home who'd cared for him earlier, requires patients have a feeding tube rather than be nourished intravenously.

[madinmaryland]

27. Where's Delay and Bush?

Isnt this a "Sanctity of Life" issue here?

:wtf:

[Walt Starr]

28. Well, Bush is the one who signed this into law

I suppose Delay had his hands in lobbying for it to be passed since nothing happens in GOP Texas without Delay's fingerprints all over it.

[kimpossible]

29. Where are the "culture of life" mobs now?

Outrageous hypocrisy.

[CornField]

30. Same Bush* law being used on 5-mo-old girl

My sister who lives there phoned me today in an uproar. The Culture of Life only seems to be important when it can be played for political gain.

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/news/042805_local_babybattle.html

[struggle4progress]

34. Third end-of-life controversy brewing in Houston

04/30/2005
Associated Press

Another end-of-life controversy is brewing in Houston, this time involving a 6-month-old girl whose leukemia has spread to her brain.

Memorial Hermann Hospital has decided to remove Knya Dismuke-Howard's life support over her family's objections, describing her condition as hopeless and saying she is suffering badly. Knya also has multiple-organ failure and a life-threatening antibiotic-resistant infection.

Knya's case is the third in Houston this spring to publicly test a 1999 state law that allows hospitals to discontinue treatment in futile cases even if the patient's family objects.

The Advanced Medical Directives Act, signed by then-Gov. George W. Bush, requires that the hospital wait 10 days before discontinuing life support to give relatives time to arrange for a transfer. Knya's family has until May 8 to find another facility to take her. <snip>

http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D89PK1P00.html

[Roland99]

31. Where's the media? Where's the outrage?

Who has the moral fortitude to stand up to this heinous move?

[struggle4progress]

35. Democratics should challenge Republicans to fund such care. eom

[reality based]

32. Where's Governor Good Hair Perry?

The legislature's in session. They can get to work immediately.

[rainbow4321]

33. Update: S.A. hospital won't cut off man's life support

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA043005.1A.life.228a090bb.html

An agreement was reached Friday that ended a standoff between the family of an East Texas man and a local hospital that planned to remove him from life support.

Spiro Nikolouzos, critically ill and in a persistent vegetative state, will be returned to Avalon Place, a long-term care facility that came to his aid after a Houston hospital also decided to end life support.

Nikolouzos' wife and son met Friday with top officials of Southeast Baptist and Avalon. Because Avalon has said it would accept Nikolouzos back into its unit for ventilator-dependent patients, the hospital agreed to treat him until he can be moved, said his wife, Jeannette.

<snip>

Nikolouzos' wife said she was pleased with the overall hospital response, but she blamed the Texas law signed by then-Gov. George W. Bush for the process allowing doctors and ethics committees at both hospitals to make such critical decisions