Significant Court Cases

Question 1

Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Cordozo

Answer 1

Every human being of ​adult years and sound mind​ has right to determine what happens to themselves

Question 2

Barber vs. Superior Court (1983)

Answer 2

Severely brain damaged patient with poor prognosis was removed from ventilator with agreement from family and physicians. ​Physicians had no duty to continue to provide life sustaining treatment in light of prognosis and surrogates agreement that he would prefer not to be so sustained

Question 3

Baby Doe law (1985)

Answer 3

Down syndrome baby whose parents declined surgery to fix esophageal atresia, leading to death. Mandates state develop procedures to report medical neglect. Assessment of childs quality of life are not valid reasons for withholding medical care

Question 4

Messenger Case (1995)

Answer 4

Michael Messenger (21 weeks old) delivered by C section. Neonatologist ordered baby to be put on ventilator & examined to determine his prognosis Neonatologist cited Baby Doe defense Michael’s dad: dermatologist, disconnected ventilator bc he “did not want son to be an experiment, sprouting tubes & barely alive.” Cause of death: condition of Michael’s lungs due to prematurity, not his father’s actions. Father charged w manslaughter & acquitted

Question 5

Linares Case (1988)

Answer 5

8 mo Samuel Linares swallowed a balloon, no vital signs for 20 min, intubated & admitted to PICU with severe brain damage Parents asked that ventilator be removed after several months → hospital attorney: there was no precdent 8 months of hospital refusal → parents seeked court order → hospital announced that they were transferring Sam to a long-term care facility → Mr. Linares entered PICU w a pistol, held caretakers at bay, unplugged child’s respiratory & held him while he dies. Charged with murder, but charge was dismissed.

Question 6

Hurley vs. Eddingfield (1901)

Answer 6

Patient is dangerously ill. Doctor was only doctor in the county, but having dinner with family so he refused to help. Patient died. ​He had no duty to treat because no patient relationship existed. Physician must agree to treat for there to be physician relationship.

Question 7

Adams vs. Via Christi Regional Medical Center (2001)

Answer 7

Pregnant daughter was experiencing abdominal pain. Mom called doctor and gave advice. Patient died due to bad advice. ​Court found that doctor was at fault because he listened and gave medical opinion. This conduct creates treatment relationship

Question 8

Lyons v. Grether, Virginia 1977

Answer 8

Magnolia Lyons has a scheduled appt with Dr. Grether accompanied by her young son & her guide dog. She is blind. Grether asked her to remove dog from waiting area. Concerned about dog’s welfase, she refuses. Is ejected from waiting area. Pt alleged Dr. Grether’s wrongful conduct caused inordinate pain & suffering & sued for damages resulting from refusal to treat. Complaint is abandonment: “wrongful termination.” Found physician liable bc his office made & confirmed appt with her. Detrimental reliance: promise was made, could reasonably be counted on, but was not delivered.

Question 9

Tarasoff vs. University of California (1974)

Answer 9

Man said he was going to kill his girlfriend to his doctor. Doctor did nothing. Girl was killed. Confidentiality yields to extent where disclosure is essential to avert danger to others. Protective privilege ends where public peril begins

Question 10

Payton v. Weaver, 1979

Answer 10

Dialysis pt, drugs & alcohol, doesn’t follow rules, antisocial Dr. Weaver: sends notice to terminate treatment relationship in Dec 1978, April 1979 & March 1980.

“Unilateral physician withdrawal” is permitted with sufficient notice. Sufficient notice = amount of time required for pt to get another provider. Otherwise, it’s tortuous abandonment (purposeful, deliberate decision for non-medical reason). Physicians may not abandon.
NJ:​ “notify pt, in writing, no less than 30 days prior to date on which care is to be terminated, and shall be made by certified mail.”

Question 11

Mohr v. Williams (1905)

Answer 11

Pt sees surgeon for middle ear pain R ear shows problems, L ear not available for examination Consent for surgery on R ear; during surgery, L ear is worse so surgery on L ear

Question 12

Mary E. Schloendorff v. The Society of the New York Hospital, April 1914

Answer 12

Pt refused surgery, but consented to examination under anesthesia Doctors performed surgery during exam, infection spread, and she lost some of her L hand due to gangrene MEDICAL BATTERY “…a surgeon who performs an operation without his patient’s consent commits an assault for which he is liable for damages.​”

Question 13

Salgo v. Leland Stanford Jr. University Board of Trustees (1957)

Answer 13

Informed consent first appeared

Question 14

Natanson v. Kline (1960)

Answer 14

Standard of disclosure - reasonable practitioner “… each man is considered to be master of his own body, and he may,​ if he be of sound mind​, expressly prohibit the performance of life-saving surgery, or other medical treatment.”​- Justice Schroeder

Question 15

Canterbury v. Spence (1972)

Answer 15

Laminectomy to repair a ruptured disc. During recovery, he fell out of bed and became paralyzed.

Sued for incomplete information prior to surgery. Standard of disclosure - physician cannot used therapeutic privilege to justify withholding information. Reasonable patient standard

Question 16

Lane v. Candura (1978)

Answer 16

Mrs. Candura (77yo mother) of Mrs. Lane has gangrene in her leg bc of diabetes. Has had 2 previous amputation surgeries, refused further surgery Physicians testified that she would die w/o surgery She wanted to get well, but was resigned to death Psych evals conflicted, but she was lucid

Question 17

Tennessee Department of Human Services v Northern (1978)

Answer 17

Mary Northern (72 yo) has gangrene in both feet. No relatives to care for her. Tennessee DHS seeks order as her caregiver. Pt cannot make a decision: “The pt… evidences a strong desire to live…She refused to make a choice.” Result: ​“The state has a right to protect a person from himself & to demand that he protect his own life.​”

Question 18

Roe vs. Wade

Answer 18

Abortion legal during first and second trimester. Legal in third trimester in some states or if mother’s life is at risk/miscarriage.

Question 19

Maynes-Turner (1999)

Answer 19

Nov 1996: Maynes-Turner declared incompetent bc of injury. 1.5 y later, she filed a Suggestion of Capacity to restore her rights. Partial rights were initially restored, based on beliefs of examining physician. Case of paternalism

Question 20

Charlie Gard (Reading)

Answer 20

8 month old child RRM2B-Mitochondrial Depletion Disorder and with epileptic encephalopathy, on ventilator, court document allowing patients to take him of the ventilator.

Question if nucleotide therapy might help, not done before (not even tested on mouse model). But before treatment could be decided his conditioned worsened.

Court ruled that the hospital may lawful withdraw all treatment expect palliative care so “Charlie can die with dignity.”