Closest kin prevented from visiting 'grandma' (living will ignored)

[genieroze]

MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH
Closest kin prevented
from visiting 'grandma'
Family in dispute over fate of 81-year-old whose granddaughter cut off nourishment
Posted: April 12, 2005
11:59 p.m. Eastern

By Sarah Foster
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com


In an intense life-and-death tug-of-war reminiscent of the Terri Schiavo case, the fate of Ora Mae Magouirk is still raging, despite the transfer Saturday of the 81-year-old widow to the University of Alabama-Birmingham Medical Center in Birmingham for treatment of an aorta dissection.

In the latest twist to the saga, Magouirk's granddaughter, Beth Gaddy, 36, of LaGrange, Ga, who is also her temporary guardian, barred immediate next-of-kin from visiting the stricken woman. No explanation was given, nor were the relatives notified.

When Magouirk's brother, A.B. McLeod, 64, of Anniston, Ala., attempted to visit Magouirk Sunday, the charge nurse said an order had been given not to allow him or his sister, Lonnie Ruth Mullinax, 74, of Birmingham, to visit their sister. The nurse refused to reveal the source of the order or even if it were written or oral, and had McLeod escorted from the premises.

"We're just flabbergasted," McLeod told WorldNetDaily. "We don't know what to think. Why not let me see her? What's the big deal?"


http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43

living will ignored

MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH
Granddaughter denies
feeding tube to grandma
81-year-old not terminally ill,
comatose, nor in vegetative state
Posted: April 7, 2005
7:33 p.m. Eastern

By Sarah Foster
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

In a situation recalling the recent death of Terri Schiavo in Florida, an 81-year-old widow, denied nourishment and fluids for nearly two weeks, is clinging to life in a hospice in LaGrange, Ga., while her immediate family fights desperately to save her life before she dies of starvation and dehydration.

Mae Magouirk was not terminally ill, comatose nor in a "vegetative state," when Hospice-LaGrange accepted her as a patient about two weeks ago upon the request of her granddaughter, Beth Gaddy, 36, an elementary school teacher.

Also upon Gaddy's request and without prior legal authority, since March 28 Hospice-LaGrange has denied Magouirk normal nourishment or fluids via a feeding tube through her nose or fluids via an IV. She has been kept sedated with morphine and ativan, a powerful tranquillizer.

Her nephew, Ken Mullinax, told WorldNetDaily that although Magouirk is given morphine and ativan, she has not received any medication to keep her eyes lubricated during her forced dehydration.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43688

[ET Awful]

1. Leave it to Worldnet to sensationalize a story, and only provide one

side and no facts.

[Freedom_from_Chains]

2. That's what I was going to say

The first problem you have here is it is a WorldNetDaily story. But I did go ahead and read some and the offended family says the grand daughter didn't have a power of attorney, then they say the hospice misread the power of attorney. From there on it's pointless.

[acmavm]

3. "Mae Magouirk was not terminally ill, comatose nor in a "vegetative state"

Now, if this is true, why in the hell wouldn't they put a feeding tube in the woman. There had to be something wrong with her, but if it wasn't terminal, if she wasn't in a coma, and she wasn't in a 'vegatative state' what justification would there be. And what's the deal with the grandkid?

Somehow this whole story reeks. Or somebody's lying their ass off.

[ima_sinnic]

4. a different perspective, on a "moderate Democrat" blog

I'm Bailing Out On This Mae Magouirk Story

I don't like it. It's aimed too much at the internet and not enough at politicians and mainstream media. Which means it has internet hoax written all over it. I might be wrong but, if I am, somebody has to prove it to me and Ken Mullinax (the nephew of Mae Magouirk) isn't doing it yet. Here's the email I received from Ken this evening:

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Mike:

Here is a mainstream newspaper story on my Aunt Mae.
It is today's article by her hometown paper of LaGrange, Ga. which objectively and accurately lays out the facts.

Thanks for reviewing it. Your opinion matters to me!
Ken Mullinax
Nephew of Mae Magouirk

The rest of the email is a cut and paste of the news story from the following URL:

http://www.lagrangenews.com/new.php?StoryType=full

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

My email reply to Ken, expressed with all due respect to him and to his family, is that I'm not buying it yet. I need to know why no political official or mainstream media outlet has been called in on this. I also asked him the question suggested by Just One Minute:

Are you the Ken Mullinax who did press relations for Democrats Ike Hilliard and Bill Fuller?

I told Ken he has 6 hours to respond or I'm done pushing his aunt's story. . . .

http://citizenz.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2005/4/9/566701.html

------------

and this comment, from JustOneMinute:

Straight Up with Sherri has lots more - scroll around. And here is an interesting comment, from which I excerpt this:

The details are many, but in short, the grandmother is not being denied anything, but refuses herself to eat (there never was a feeding tube).

lots more, many links, at http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2005/04/mae_mogouirk_th.html

-------------

it's true, when you google the name Mae Magouirk you don't find much besides RW blog entries.

I'm starting to think this is another wingnut case that has been distorted all to hell. btw, the lawyer for the Schiavo family has volunteered his services on this case. all those professional, temporarily out-of-work "cult of life" agitators again have a goldmine! when do the jugglers arrive?

[MADem]

5. This woman was moved to a hospital days ago

...and fed and hydrated and given cardiac care. Not sure what was up with the granddaughter, but apparently she overreached. According to the news reports I have heard, grandma had a living will that only said pull the plug if she was PVS.

Atlanta Journal Constitution (reg req) reported it as follows:
Doctors say 81-year-old Ora Mae Magouirk of LaGrange suffers from aortic dissection, but her vessel is not the only thing that's torn.
For nearly a month, her extended family had undergone a Terry Schiavo-like ordeal, split over whether she should die without nourishment or be kept alive.

A granddaughter who has been deemed her legal guardian placed her in a hospice, without food. Other family members disagreed, saying the woman is not beyond recovery and has not lost her ability to think.

Now a panel of three medical specialists, commissioned by a Troup County probate judge, has ruled that the woman's heart ailment is treatable. On Saturday, the widowed cancer clinic retiree was airlifted to UAB Medical Center in Birmingham after a week without food.

Unlike Schiavo, who died last month, Magouirk was neither comatose nor in a vegetative state, say the relatives who want her alive. She was simply drugged with morphine, they said. Magouirk's will dictates that a feeding tube be removed if she is in a coma, said nephew Kenneth Mullinax of Birmingham.

The hospital declined to release information, citing federal privacy law. http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/0405/12illness.html?UrAuth=`N]NUObNWUbTTUWUXUTUZTZUaUWU]UWUZU`U

[genieroze]

6. This is starting to sound like a soap opera.

[MADem]

7. I agree

The Schiavo army was all set to mobilize, and then, doggone it, they lost their new poster child. They'll just have to find another example for the cause...

[elehhhhna]

8. "Jesus told me to let Grandma starve" !!! The RelioNazis have to drop it

Here's the loving Granddaughter's quote:

"I don't care if they are the best doctors in the whole world. I have prayed about this and God has told me that Grandmamma is ready to go home with Jesus and Granddaddy. Since I hold the medical power to do this, it is my decision and I want her to go to hospice. Her heart is now bad and she has glaucoma and blood clots. Grandmamma told me she wants to go home and I feel that means that she wants to die so I want her to go to Hospice. I promise y'all I won't withhold anything Grandmamma needs."


http://jacklewis.net/weblog/archives/2005/04/13/index.php