Citation

North East Rep. Second Ser. 1991; 580: 876-883.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1991, West Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12041258

Abstract

The Probate Court of Franklin County, Ohio authorized the parents of an adolescent in a vegetative state to withhold nutrition and hydration from their daughter. Because she had been in a vegetative state since 1986, and showed no hope of recovery, her parents believed that she no longer had any quality of life. The court treated the parents as coguardians, and recognized that the young woman's privacy interest outweighed the state's interest in preserving life, protecting third parties, maintaining the integrity of the medical profession, and preventing suicide. Authorizing the parents to withhold life-sustaining treatment was consistent with both the "substitute judgment" and the "best interest" tests. The parents had testified that if their daughter were aware of her condition, based on a childhood experience and opinion she had expressed, she would not want to continue to live. The court also noted that the withdrawal of nutrition and hydration would not cause any physical discomfort or pain.

Language: en