A look at Minnesota court's life support ruling
A court-appointed guardian can order the removal of life-support for patients without court review, according to a Minnesota Supreme Court ruling Wednesday.
More from MPR News' NewsCut blog:
The court ruled in the case of Jeffers Tschumy, a 53-year-old man with no family who suffered from diabetes, effect of a stroke and partial paralysis from a spinal infection. A professional guardian was appointed in 2009 and when Tschumy suffered irreversible brain damage in April 2012 after choking on food, his guardian directed Abbott Northwestern Hospital to remove life-prolonging treatment.
The hospital's ethics committee insisted a guardian doesn't have that kind of unilateral power, and although a district court agreed, the Minnesota Court of Appeals overturned the decision.
On The Daily Circuit, we examine the importance of this ruling and look at what defines a court-appointed guardian.
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