|
Andrea
Clark:
Rest
in
Peace
Those
who've
read
previous
editions
of
TN&V
or
visited
our
web
page
are
familiar
with
the
case
of
Andrea
Clark.
You'll
remember
that
a
local
Texas
hospital
sought
to
use
a
state
"futility"
law
as
cover
not
to
treat
Andrea
Clark.
At
the
eleventh
hour
a
physician
was
found
who
agreed
to
care
for
her.
Andrea
Clark's
health
was
fragile
following
open
heart
surgery,
but
that
ought
never
have
been
used
to
try
to
justify
non-treatment.
Her
family
has
sent
out
a
statement
saying
that
she'd
died
peacefully
on
Sunday
afternoon,
surrounded
by
two
sisters,
her
brother,
and
her
son,
five
days
after
the
hospital
withdrew
its
plans
to
halt
treatment
and
food
and
water.
Wesley
Smith
posted
the
announcement
on
his
blog,
www.wesleyjsmith.com
"Andrea
passed
away
peacefully
a
little
before
3pm
today,
with
her
family
and
her
friends
at
her
bedside.
We
love
her
so
very
much
and
we
are
going
to
miss
her
terribly.
We
hope
that
the
battle
that
we
fought
for
our
sister
will
bring
to
light
and
bear
witness
to
the
horrible
acts
committed
in
the
name
of
ethics
in
hospitals
across
the
state
of
Texas.
"The
fact
that
we
had
to
fight
this
battle
is
both
frightening
and
a
sad
commentary
on
the
so-called
'ethics'
now
being
practiced
in
medical
facilities
in
this
state.
The
battle
for
life
is a
difficult
one,
in
the
best
of
situations,
but
when
a
family
is
put
through
what
we
had
to
go
through
at
such
a
time,
it
is
especially
agonizing.
"We
wish
so
much
that
we
could
have
spent
more
time
at
our
sister's
side,
when
she
was
living
and
fighting
for
her
life,
rather
than
having
to
visit
our
attorney's
office,
give
interviews
to
radio
and
television
stations
to
let
the
public
know
of
the
atrocity
about
to
befall
Andrea,
and
literally
stand
outside
the
hospital
and
beg
them
not
to
kill
our
sister.
In
attempting
to
deprive
Andrea
of
the
most
basic
of
her
human
rights--life--St.
Luke's
Hospital
managed
to
deprive
her
family
and
her
of
that
which
is
most
dear
to
us
all,
when
we
are
faced
with
the
death
of a
loved
one:
a
proper
goodbye.
"How,
in
the
name
of
God,
anyone
can
call
putting
someone
to
death
when
they
are
at
their
most
helpless
and
begging
for
their
lives
'ethical,'
we
cannot
imagine."
According
to
this
morning's
Houston
Chronicle,
Lanore
Dixon,
Andrea
Clark's
sister,
has
vowed
to
overturn
the
Texas
law.
"We're
never
going
to
stop
working
to
change
the
law,"
Lanore
Dixon
said.
"We
hope
that
the
battle
we
fought
for
our
sister
will
bring
to
light
and
bear
witness
to
the
horrible
acts
committed
in
the
name
of
ethics
in
hospitals
across
the
state
of
Texas."
Todd
Ackerman,
reporting
for
the
Chronicle,
wrote
today,
"The
1999
law,
commonly
known
as
Texas'
futile-care
law,
is
the
subject
of
ongoing
meetings
in
Austin
aimed
at
reform
in
the
2007
Legislature.
It
allows
a
hospital
to
remove
life
support
in a
case
deemed
medically
futile,
as
long
as
its
ethics
committee
agrees
with
the
attending
physicians'
recommendation
and
gives
the
patient's
family
10
days
of
notice
to
find
an
alternative
facility.
"Three
high-profile
Houston
cases
brought
the
little-known
law
to
the
public's
attention
in
2005.
The
lawyer
who
represented
Clark's
family
is
trying
to
find
a
Texas
facility
to
accept
a
patient
scheduled
to
be
removed
from
life
support
at
an
Austin
hospital
later
this
month."
Our
prayers
go
out
to
Andrea
Clark's
family. |
