JPS says it will comply with order on pregnant, brain-dead woman

[jsr]

http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/01/25/5513457/hospital-discussing-future-of.html

JPS says it will comply with order on pregnant, brain-dead woman
Posted Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014
By Max B. Baker
[e-mail]

FORT WORTH — BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: At 11:30 a.m. Sunday, JPS said in a statement that it would follow the judge’s order to remove life-support from Marlise Muñoz.

Here is the statement:

“The past eight weeks have been difficult for the Munoz family, the caregivers and the entire Tarrant County community, which found itself involved in a sad situation. JPS Health Network has followed what we believed were the demands of a state statute. From the onset, JPS has said its role was not to make nor contest law but to follow it. On Friday, a state district judge ordered the removal of life-sustaining treatment from Marlise Munoz. The hospital will follow the court order.”

[etherealtruth]

1. I am glad to hear this

They have put this family through enough

[riqster]

2. Kick and Rec.

It's about time the family's wishes were respected.

[VA_Jill]

3. It is about freaking time!

Now if some wacko RWNJ right-to-lifer just doesn't file some sort of appeal! The hospital should be sued for all the suffering it has put this family through. It should have to eat the costs, too.

[TexasTowelie]

10. The couple has private insurance and that coverage should kick in first.

I think that the hospital should also waive deductibles and pay the non-covered medical expenses. They should also pay for Munoz's legal expenses since he was forced to seek legal assistance. However, it is a public hospital so having them eat all of the costs means that burden is placed upon the taxpayers of Tarrant County and it also defeats the purpose of having insurance.

[stg81]

4. thank God

rest in peace

[warrior1]

5. send the bill to the republicans

who put this poor family through this

[SunSeeker]

6. Indeed. nt

[QuestForSense]

7. I'm surprised that no doctor stood up and spoke out.

I know Do No Harm applies primarily to research subjects, but it seems like the administrative decision to keep this poor woman's body going against her will and the wishes of her family did a lot of harm. At the very least, it caused a lot of unnecessary pain.

[NutmegYankee]

8. Once they bury her, it's time top destroy JPS.

No medical institution that unethical and evil should be suffered to exist.

[TexasTowelie]

11. It's a public hospital run by Tarrant County

and provides indigent care to the people there. Do you have any suggestions for what the people there should do while you are destroying JPS?

[NutmegYankee]

15. Fire the management and the few doctors without ethics

And reopen.

[jsr]

19. It was the Tarrant County district attorney who interpreted the law and called the shots.

[uppityperson]

9. Time to change that state statute

[SidDithers]

12. This entire, sad situation was caused by a poorly written law..

created by asshat Texas politicians knuckling under to the vocal pressure put on them by their dumbass pro-life constituents.

It's my opinion that the hospital was caught in an impossible situation, forced to maintain life-support on this poor woman because it would be illegal to do otherwise.

IMO, the blame here should be directed at the legislators who wrote this dumbass law.

Sid

[jmowreader]

14. Exactly

All the "make the hospital pay, destroy the hospital, pillory the administrators" stuff on this thread neglects a critical thing: were it not for the Texas lege and whoever was governor when this was passed, the ventilator would have been turned off when the family requested it. So go after the people who enacted such an evil law.

[UTUSN]

13. The wingnuts who passed that law claim their rights not to be treaded on yet want to tread

on everybody else's Choices. Even if the hospital/doctors comply, who says some TeaBagger, e.g., the a-hole state attorney general, Greg ABBOTT, even now running for Governor against Wendy DAVIS, won't barge in to appeal?

[Barack_America]

17. "Don't tread on me" stops at women's bodies....

...where it morphs into, "control me at all costs".

[malaise]

16. I hope Wendy Davis uses this to tear Greg Abbott and Rick Perry a new one

This was madness

[jsr]

18. Wendy Davis lives in Fort Worth

It's her hometown.