A few days after her admission to Methodist Hospital in November 2020, 72-year-old Graciela Urdiales started choking and was resuscitated. Clinicians told the family to “let her go” and “there’s nothing more we can do.” Clinicians refused the family's request that Graciela be kept alive long enough to say goodbye to her husband, and they “refused and withdrew life support.” Graciela died on November 8, 2020.
In their lawsuit, the family alleged: "Patient Abandonment, Violation of Civil Rights, and Euthanasia"
[] [Appellants] failed to act with reasonable care in improperly withholding or withdrawing life sustaining treatment from Graciela against her family’s stated wishes contrary to the Texas Advance Directive Act. Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. § 166, et seq. [Appellants] unilaterally severed the physician-patient relationship without reasonable notice or without providing adequate alternative medical care at a time when there was the necessity of continuing medical attention. [Appellants] abandoned Graciela and committed involuntary euthanasia by depriving her of life sustaining treatment.
[] [Appellants’] decision to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment constituted state action and implicated Graciela’s fundamental right to life that is protected by the due process clause. [Appellants’] thereby violated Graciela’s civil rights.
But the Texas Court of Appeals construed all these claims as healthcare liability claims. Because the family failed to file an expert report within the required timeframe, those claims were dismissed.
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