April 8, 2005
"MADE FROM THE FINEST UNDERSEA GROWTH" (via embourie):
Granddaughter yanks grandma's feeding tube: 81-year-old neither terminally ill, comatose, nor in vegetative state (Sarah Foster, 4/07/05, WorldNetDaily.com)
In a situation recalling the recent death of Terri Schiavo in Florida, an 81-year-old widow, denied nourishment and fluids for nearly two weeks, is clinging to life in a hospice in LaGrange, Ga., while her immediate family fights desperately to save her life before she dies of starvation and dehydration.Mae Magouirk was neither terminally ill, comatose nor in a "vegetative state," when Hospice-LaGrange accepted her as a patient about two weeks ago upon the request of her granddaughter, Beth Gaddy, 36, an elementary school teacher. [...]
In her living will, Magouirk stated that fluids and nourishment were to be withheld only if she were either comatose or "vegetative," and she is neither. Nor is she terminally ill, which is generally a requirement for admission to a hospice.
Magouirk lives alone in LaGrange, though because of glaucoma she relied on her granddaughter, Beth Gaddy, to bring her food and do errands.
Two weeks ago, Magouirk's aorta had a dissection, and she was hospitalized in the local LaGrange Hospital. Her aortic problem was determined to be severe, and she was admitted to the intensive care unit. At the time of her admission she was lucid and had never been diagnosed with dementia.
Claiming that she held Magouirk's power of attorney, Gaddy had her transferred to Hospice-LaGrange, a 16-bed unit owned by the same family that owns the hospital. Once at the hospice, Gaddy stated that she did not want her grandmother fed or given water.
"Grandmama is old and I think it is time she went home to Jesus," Gaddy told Magouirk's brother and nephew, McLeod and Ken Mullinax. "She has glaucoma and now this heart problem, and who would want to live with disabilities like these?"
At least when we used to imagine this dystopian future we thought the folks we killed would be turned into Soylent Green. Posted by Orrin Judd at April 8, 2005 6:51 AM
This case is actually worse - Boyd is a probate judge and not a lawyer.
Let's see if any reporter from the MSM interviews the older relatives who want to help.
Jeff - what think?
Posted by: jim hamlen at April 8, 2005 11:24 AMmmmmm....soylent green
Posted by: Brandon at April 8, 2005 1:01 PMHome to Jesus?
Obviously, if the woman were a Christian, she'd never have dreamed of such a thing.
Ooops
Posted by: Harry Eagar at April 8, 2005 1:19 PMPavlov's Eagar drools again.
Posted by: jefferson park at April 8, 2005 2:35 PM
Logan's Run, not Soylent Green
What would they say in Maui, Harry - home to kahuna?
Posted by: jim hamlen at April 8, 2005 3:14 PMSo McLeod and Ken Mullinax had enough energy to bitch and moan to the busybodies at World Net Daily about what the granddaughter did but not enough to perhaps help her out with the food and errands, despite the fact she had a fulltime job besides.
This is entirely too typical.
Posted by: bart at April 8, 2005 6:07 PMbart:
That's a charming standard: you're entitled to whack people if they're burdensome.
Posted by: oj at April 8, 2005 6:41 PMbart:
So we've got Magouirk's brother and nephew, who may not help out with daily tasks but would prefer that she live, versus Magouirk's granddaughter, who helps around the house but would like to starve her grandmother to death against her clearly expressed wishes.
C'mon.
Posted by: Matt Murphy at April 8, 2005 6:48 PMAnd of course we don't know the details of why or even if the other relatives help out around the house. Wouldn't it be something if one or both of them turned out to be handicapped? You can almost hear George Felos asking why they continue to hog resources from the rest of us.
Posted by: Matt Murphy at April 8, 2005 7:07 PMSo whom am I going to believe when it comes to interpreting the wishes of the woman, the granddaughter who takes care of her or the brother and nephew who don't? If the old lady is kept alive, the granddaughter will keep taking care of her so it's no skin off the spotty fat butts of the Mullinaxes. So, their opinion should be irrelevant. If the old lady cared what those two layabouts had to say about anything, she'd have given them a power of attorney.
What should control is what the old lady's wishes are and those alone. If the only one who knows those wishes is the granddaughter, then she makes the decision. She got the power of attorney, that's what it's for. If she abuses the power in accordance with state law, the court can appoint another guardian.
If the Mullinaxes were doing anything other than whining, World Net Daily, given its biases, would have told us.
Posted by: bart at April 8, 2005 7:38 PMbart:
No, the woman's wishes are insignificant. We shouldn't starve people just because we're tired of them.
Posted by: oj at April 8, 2005 7:57 PMThe old lady's wishes should be controlling period. Nobody should be kept alive who doesn't want to be.
Posted by: bart at April 8, 2005 8:10 PMThe old lady's wishes should be controlling period. Nobody should be kept alive who doesn't want to be.
Posted by: bart at April 8, 2005 8:10 PMBart:
A living will would help clear this up. Too bad she doesn't have one. Oh, wait...
Posted by: Matt Murphy at April 8, 2005 8:23 PM