Pasadena man whose life-threatening illness spurred challenge to Texas law dies at hospital

A Pasadena man whose critical, life-threatening illness led to a lawsuit challenging a 1999 Texas law that grants hospital ethics committees power to withdraw life-sustaining treatment in hopeless cases died Wednesday at Houston Methodist Hospital.

Chris Dunn, 46, was admitted to the Texas Medical Center hospital in early October after a diagnostic scan at a Pasadena hospital revealed a mass on his pancreas. In mid-November, Dunn's family was apprised that the hospital had done all it could do and that, unless another facility could be found to treat him, life-sustaining care would be discontinued. A legal challenge to the Texas Health and Safety Code led to continuation of such care, which Dunn was receiving at the time of his death.

"One month after Houston Methodist Hospital determined that Chris' life was not worth living and that his condition was not even worth diagnosing and treating, Chris succumbed to his illness," said Melissa Conway, spokeswoman for Texas Right to Life, which had advocated for Dunn's continued treatment.

Methodist spokesman George Kovacik Wednesday offered condolences to Dunn's family.

"While we cannot share private health information, Houston Methodist and the Dunn family were awaiting a decision by the court regarding guardianship and who is authorized to make end-of-life medical decisions for Chris," he said. "We understand how difficult it is when a loved one is gravely ill and medical decisions must be made."

Joe Nixon, the Dunn family's attorney, said the hospital sought guardianship over the sick man on Dec. 3, hours before the court was to deliberate on a family petition seeking to stop the hospital from discontinuing care. While no formal injunction was issued, the judge mandated that the hospital continue life-sustaining care while the guardianship issue was resolved, Nixon said.

A provision of the Texas Health and Safety Code, which outlines procedures for advance directives in life-threatening medical situations, calls for a review by ethics or medical committees when an attending physician refuses to honor a patient's advance directive or a health care or treatment decision made by or for the patient. If the committee, in essence, determines requested care is futile, an effort can be made to transfer the patient to another facility. After 10 days, the physician and hospital are not obligated to continuing life-sustaining treatment.

In Dunn's case, the hospital committee was composed of physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains and a medical ethicist.

In a Dec. 2 video, Nixon asked Dunn, whom he described as "conscious and alert" whether he wanted to continue to live. Dunn nodded slightly and made a gesture indicating prayer.

Court documents indicated Dunn suffered end-stage liver disease, gastric obstruction, pancreatic cancer, respiratory failure and gastrointestinal bleeding.

Full Article & Source:
A Pasadena man whose critical, life-threatening illness led to a lawsuit challenging a 1999 Texas law dies at hospital

See Also: 
Houston Methodist Hospital still seeking to pull plug on patient

Attorneys representing Chris Dunn contest Methodist Hospital’s attempt to seize guardianship

Hospital Trying to Seize Guardianship of Disabled Patient From His Family in Order to Kill Him

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Texas Right to Life mourns the passing of Chris Dunn 

Houston Methodist Hospital still seeking to pull plug on patient

HOUSTON,TX (FOX 26) - Houston's Methodist Hospital is still seeking to pull the plug on a man who is actively requesting that doctors try to save his life.

On December 2nd, Chris Dunn is seen in a video with his mother and attorneys, nodding yes and putting his hands together in prayer, that doctors will try to treat his condition. People who have been able to visit Chris say his health is no better now, but it's also not any worse.

"He's not unconscious. He's never been unsconcious." says Emily Horne with the organization Texas Right to Life. "He's very communicative whenever we're able to ask him questions and talk to him."

Dunn came into the hospital more than 2 months ago with a large growth on his pancreas that is impairing his digestive system.  According to Dunn's mother, Evelyn Kelly, Methodist hospital has not done a biopsy to see if it's a cancerous tumor, but it has communicated with Kelly and other family members that it would be futile to try and save his life.

If Dunn's mother hadn't taken the hospital to court, Methodist it would have discontinued and withheld all life sustaining treatment starting on November 24th. That is according to the letter shared with us by Kelly's attorney, and Texas Right to Life, which has taken up Dunn's cause.

"We are currently helping 4 families in this situation, and we've helped hundreds," Horne says. "This is not just an isolated incident. This happens all over Texas all of the time."

The attorney representing both Kelly and Dunn says the primary problem is a Texas Law.

"The statute allows the hospital to say 'We don't think the remainder of your life is worthwhile. We think we have the right to prematurely terminate your life against your mother's wishes against his own wishes,'" Joe Nixon says, describing the position taken by Methodist Hospital's Bioethics Committee.

The complicating factor now is a dispute over Dunn's guardianship. He lives with Kelly, and she has been his primary caretaker, but the hospital filed a court challenged to her guardianship. Kelly says the challenge now is being made by her ex-husband, Dunn's biological father. Methodist Hospital says it will not try to treat Dunn, or stop life sustaining treatment, until guardianship is determined in court.

Meanwhile Texas Right to Life started a website about Dunn, "helpchrisseechristmas.com," that is growing in followers.

"People are just appalled that this could happen," Horne says.  "There's been a lot of people coming to that page, looking at the updates and praying, and people even sending Christmas cards."

Methodist hospital says it's doctors have always made decisions based on the best interest of the patient, and say some of Dunn's family members agree with the position taken by the hospital.

Fox26 could not reach Dunn's father for comment.

Full Article & Source:
Houston Methodist Hospital still seeking to pull plug on patient

See Also:
Attorneys representing Chris Dunn contest Methodist Hospital’s attempt to seize guardianship

Hospital Trying to Seize Guardianship of Disabled Patient From His Family in Order to Kill Him

Attorneys representing Chris Dunn contest Methodist Hospital’s attempt to seize guardianship

By Texas Right to Life

Houston, Texas– December 10, 2015: Yesterday, the attorneys representing Evelyn Kelly contested Methodist Hospital’s application for custodial guardianship of Evelyn’s adult son, Chris Dunn. Chris is currently fighting for his life in Houston Methodist Hospital.

His mother, Evelyn, is his Medical Power of Attorney and trying to ensure that Chris continues to receive life-sustaining treatments that the hospital is attempting to remove. Methodist has invoked the statutory process found in the Texas Advanced Directives Act (TADA-Chapter 166.046 of the Health & Safety Code), which allows the hospital to override medical directives of a patient and provide only ten days’ notice before involuntarily withdrawing life-sustaining treatment.

Dunn’s only recourse is to find another facility that will offer him an ICU bed – a daunting task on a rushed time frame for anyone, but even more so when the hospital has determined to end your life.

Last week, Chris’s mother was granted a second two-week extension of the 10-day period to find another facility, a task made even more difficult because the hospital will not provide a diagnosis of Chris’s condition. The same day the extension was granted, however, Methodist filed an injunction seeking custodial guardianship of Chris. The hospital is thus attempting to prevent Evelyn from representing her son and defending his right to continue receiving care.

In November when the hospital initially attempted to remove care, Evelyn contacted Texas Right to Life, which has assisted the family in the difficult legal process and provided legal assistance.

Yesterday, the lawyers representing Chris and Evelyn, Trey Trainor and Joe Nixon, contested Methodist Hospital’s attempt to seize guardianship. Trainor and Nixon are the same lawyers who appear in video documentation of Chris communicating his desire to continue receiving treatment and for his mother’s attorneys to fight on his behalf.

In court documents filed today, Trainor and Nixon note this video evidence that Chris is alert and responsive, only intermittently sedated depending on the dosage of medication.

The court documents filed yesterday reveal that Justine Moore, an employee of Methodist Hospital, applied to be Chris’s Permanent Guardian. As Trainor and Nixon note, Chris lived with his mother before his illness and has since indicated that he would prefer her to speak on his behalf before anyone else.

Furthermore, as a former EMT, Chris is well aware of what life-sustaining treatment entails. When asked explicitly if he wants to continue receiving such care, he clearly communicated that he does.

Finally, and most shockingly, Trainor and Nixon point to the inappropriate nature of Moore’s application for guardianship. Moore was the very same employee who revealed to Evelyn the hospital’s desire to remove care. She cannot therefore be an impartial guardian, and there is evidence that she would in fact be acting directly contrary to Chris’s wishes for his own medical care.

Texas Right to Life condemns Houston Methodist Hospital’s legal maneuvering to force their anti-Life quality of life judgments upon Chris. Until now, the hospital has been hiding behind the unethical, unconstitutional, and unprecedented Texas law; however, now that a judge has shown skepticism at the process allowed by law, the hospital is going out of their way to remove the little legal protection Chris still has, his Medical Power of Attorney. This reveals the lengths to which this hospital will go to ensure that the final authority of these Life and death decisions remain in the hands of the physicians and hospital that does not see Chris’s life as worth living.

Editor’s note. This appeared at texasrighttolife.com

Full Article & Source:
Attorneys representing Chris Dunn contest Methodist Hospital’s attempt to seize guardianship

See Also:
Hospital Trying to Seize Guardianship of Disabled Patient From His Family in Order to Kill Him

Hospital Trying to Seize Guardianship of Disabled Patient From His Family in Order to Kill Him

A Houston, Texas hospital is attempting to seize guardianship of a disabled patient shown in a shocking video begging to stay alive. Chris Dunn has received national attention over a video showing him begging and praying to stay alive and to now have Methodist Hospital remove his life-sustaining medical treatment that it wants to remove.

Now, the hospital is attempting to take away guardianship from Dunn’s family.

Yesterday, the attorneys representing Evelyn Kelly contested Methodist Hospital’s application for custodial guardianship of Evelyn’s adult son, Chris Dunn. Kelly is his Medical Power of Attorney and trying to ensure that Chris continues to receive life-sustaining treatments that the hospital is attempting to remove.  Methodist has invoked the statutory process found in the Texas Advanced Directives Act (TADA-Chapter 166.046 of the Health & Safety Code), which allows the hospital to override medical directives of a patient and provide only ten days’ notice before involuntarily withdrawing life-sustaining treatment.

Even if a patient is conscious, able to communicate, walk, or pay for his own care, Texas law authorizes hospitals and physicians to override the medical decisions of a patient and remove care, including food and water, after providing the required ten days’ notice.

Officials with Texas Right to Life informed LifeNews today that Dunn’s only recourse is to find another facility that will offer him an ICU bed – a daunting task on a rushed time frame for anyone, but even more so when the hospital has determined to end your life.

“Last week, Chris’s mother was granted a second two-week extension of the 10 day period to find another facility, a task made even more difficult because the hospital will not provide a diagnosis of Chris’s condition.  The same day the extension was granted, however, Methodist filed an injunction seeking custodial guardianship of Chris.  The hospital is thus attempting to prevent Evelyn from representing her son and defending his right to continue receiving care,” the pro-life group said.

The pro-life group added:

In November when the hospital initially attempted to remove care, Evelyn contacted Texas Right to Life, which has assisted the family in the difficult legal process and provided legal assistance.  Yesterday, the lawyers representing Chris and Evelyn, Trey Trainor and Joe Nixon, contested Methodist Hospital’s attempt to seize guardianship.  Trainor and Nixon are the same lawyers who appear in video documentation of Chris communicating his desire to continue receiving treatment and for his mother’s attorneys to fight on his behalf.  In court documents filed today, Trainor and Nixon note this video evidence that Chris is alert and responsive, only intermittently sedated depending on the dosage of medication.

The court documents filed yesterday reveal that Justine Moore, an employee of Methodist Hospital, applied to be Chris’s Permanent Guardian.  As Trainor and Nixon note, Chris lived with his mother before his illness and has since indicated that he would prefer her to speak on his behalf before anyone else.  Furthermore, as a former EMT, Chris is well aware of what life-sustaining treatment entails.  When asked explicitly if he wants to continue receiving such care, he clearly communicated that he does.

Finally, and most shockingly, Trainor and Nixon point to the inappropriate nature of Moore’s application for guardianship.  Moore was the very same employee who revealed to Evelyn the hospital’s desire to remove care.  She cannot therefore be an impartial guardian, and there is evidence that she would in fact be acting directly contrary to Chris’s wishes for his own medical care.

Texas Right to Life condemns Houston Methodist Hospital’s legal maneuvering to force their anti-Life quality of life judgments upon Chris.  Until now, the hospital has been hiding behind the unethical, unconstitutional, and unprecedented Texas law; however, now that a judge has shown skepticism at the process allowed by law, the hospital is going out of their way to remove the little legal protection Chris still has, his Medical Power of Attorney.  This reveals the lengths to which this hospital will go to ensure that the final authority of these Life and death decisions remain in the hands of the physicians and hospital that does not see Chris’s life as worth living.

Dunn is one of countless Texans who have been victimized by the draconian Texas Advance Directives Act (TADA), enacted by the Texas Legislature in 1999.  The law – which benefits the medical lobby and jeopardizes medically vulnerable Texans – protects the financial and discriminatory interests of hospitals and physicians by abrogating the civil liberties of patients.

As Texas Right to Life explains about the law: “When a hospital or physician determines for any reason that they disagree with a patient’s decision about his or her own medical treatment and invokes TADA, Texas law protects those healthcare providers as they remove life-sustaining treatment from the patient even when doing so means overriding the patient’s desire and right to live—and even when the treatment is benefitting the patient.  The law does not require that the hospital inform the patient or family about the reasons or basis for the removal of treatment, which could include financial reasons, discrimination, or subjective quality of life value judgments about the life of the patient.”

Full Article & Source:
Hospital Trying to Seize Guardianship of Disabled Patient From His Family in Order to Kill Him