U.S. Court of Appeals Hears Texas Case on Unilateral Withdrawal of Life Support

At the same time the Texas Supreme Court is considering the constitutionality of TADA, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is considering another futility case from Fort Worth, Texas. 

While both cases concern nonconsensual withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment, they present different legal questions. In T.L. v. Cook Children's, the family argues that while the hospital complied with TADA, that TADA is unconstitutional. In contrast, in Gonzalez v. Duane, the family alleges that the physician and hospital failed to comply with TADA when terminating life support. In other words, while one hospital was sued for using TADA, the other was sued for not using TADA.

The Gonzalez case makes some shocking allegations, including that Dr. Duane made as many as ten "unilateral termination decisions" in a single month and with a “sickening motive,” i.e. choosing “victims who didn’t speak English, [who] weren’t insured,” and who she “thought [were] undocumented.”