Texas law (Texas Health and Safety Code 166.046) permits health care facilities to unilaterally decide to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment even in situations where the patient or the patient’s decision maker wants such care.
Legal analysis of the Texas law regarding “futile care”
There have been numerous failed attempts to change the law to provide greater patient protection. The latest attempt failed to gain approval in the session ending in June 2011.
Articles
“Reliance on high-tech and high-turnover leading to lawsuits in ‘hospitalist’ heavy San Antonio”
(San Antonio Current — December 7, 2011)
Olga De La Zerda went into a Metropolitan Methodist Hospital on February 16 to determine if a bit of congestion was a sign of a more serious infection. It should have been a simple day of observation in the hospital….A death certificate says De La Zerda died of septic shock, with pneumonia and acute respiratory failure as contributing conditions. But relatives are convinced that a multitude of medications — administered against the family’s wishes caused adverse reactions that eventually shut down De La Zerda’s body…
“Teen’s move sidesteps futile-care controversy”
(Houston Chronicle — July 1, 2011)
Jordan Allen 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.
“Family fights to keep teen alive as hospital decides to end life support”
(KHOU 11 News — June 30, 2011)
The family of a 14-year-old boy is fighting to keep him alive after a hospital decided to discontinue treatment. Rosalyn Allen and her husband, Samuel Allen, received a letter last week from Texas Children’s Hospital saying that their son, Jordan, has both a “terminal and irreversible condition.” The letter explains that a bioethics panel has considered her son’s case and decided that “life-sustaining treatment should be discontinued.”
