BREAKING NEWS: St. Lukes Reneged on Andrea Clark Transfer Deal
by Ree-C Murphey · 04/28/2006 9:25 pm[Editor’s Note– representatives of St. Luke’s are being contacted and offered an opportunity to submit their perspective on this issue for publication on LST.]
UPDATE: The Chronicle gives more info. It looks like another meeting of doctors will be held on Tuesday to reassess her case, "including Dr. Matthew Lenz, a doctor of internal medicine identified by Texas Right to Life as a candidate to take over the case."
It is unclear what might come of the meeting - a short-term extension of Clark’s life support and care; the scheduling of a new ethics committee metting at which Lenz would advocate for Clark; or a complete revocation of plans to discontinue Clark’s care.
Previous LST postings with background here and here.
It seems that St. Lukes has stopped the transfer of Andrea Clark to the facility in Chicago.
According to Right Wing News, about 20 minutes before the transfer was to occur, St. Lukes informed the family the transfer was off.
The date life support was to be pulled was on Sunday, since "reasonable notice" had been given. Now St. Lukes will give the family until TUESDAY.
My Right Wing Conspiracy received an email from Andrea’s Clark’s other sister, Lanore Dixon:
This afternoon, twenty minutes before Andrea was due to be transported by ambulance to the airport, her doctor (or rather, the one filling in for her doctor who has gone on vacation this week–how VERY convenient!) came into her room and informed me she would not be transferred to the Chicago facility after all. After questioning the doctor I learned that someone messed up–I don’t know which end the foul up occurred, but this all goes to show the danger of being forced to choose a healthcare facility due to pressure of an ethics committee ruling… This so called LTAC was nothing more than a nursing home with dialysis machine in the basement. They had no ability to administer the medications Andrea requires.
Somehow, the blogosphere knew about the inadequacy of the LTAC before either the family or the hospital did–probably due to me posting the new mailing address where Andrea can recieve cards and letters. Don’t use the Illinois address, folks!
While we’re grateful that St. Luke’s halted the transfer before Andrea was moved, I cannot tell you the stress this has put on our family. We are exhausted from this effort, but we will continue to fight for our sister.
St. Luke’s has agreed not to pull Andrea’s life support at least until Tuesday. On Tuesday, a committee of doctors from St. Luke’s will meet to discuss how to proceed with Andrea’s case. Andrea’s new doctor–a doctor who shares our values about the sacredness of life–will take over her care on Tuesday and will fight for her right to live. Let us all hope and pray that the committee meeting on Tuesday is chaired by doctors who have a reverence for life and not a former abortionist like the St. Luke’s ethics committee chair.
Please pass this info on. I’m sending it to a few prolife blogs, but I’m using the computer in patient services and don’t have much time.
This is unbelievable!!!
I guess St. Luke’s thinks the whole thing will now go away since they almost broke their arm patting themselves on the preverbial back congratulating themselves for showing "compassion and the best interests of the patient" to the Houston Chronicle.
This cannot stand; this patient is a person. This could be you or someone you love someday.
What you can do:
- Call St. Luke’s 832-355-1000
- Pray for Andrea and her family (they must be totally exhausted now)
More:
Melanie sent an email yesterday to Prolife Blogs.com to thank people for the help and prayers. I think this is important for your to see:
As you know, I’m a Democrat, but one that is against abortion. I agree with the Republicans on that issue, at least. After this experience, though, I have to tell you: I am in absolute awe of the power that the right to life people generate. I, of course, first posted on Democratic Underground, and I have to give them some credit: they let my post stand against the rules about posting something like this under the wrong topic. They also let it stand, even though it had people’s (my sister’s and mine) personal numbers in it. And, of course, some people there forwarded it to other blogs. And everyone there was very supportive in their comments, as well.
But the pro-life people stepped forward and just absolutely ground St. Luke’s into submission on this issue. You have, without a doubt, saved my sister’s life. I want you to know that. Without the pro-life/right to life people stepping in from the very first of this fight for Andrea, we would have lost. I have never in my life seen such a centered, focused and energized group of people.
You used that energy and focus to do some good in this world and you didn’t care whether you were fighting for a Democrat’s life or a Republican’s. Now, that’s conviction.
There are not enough words in the English language to tell you how grateful I and my family are, for what you people have done. When we protested at St. Luke’s last Saturday, the strangers that showed up were people that had had relatives killed at St. Luke’s in much the same way that St. Luke’s had planned to kill my sister. These people hadn’t known any better, and they hadn’t known that there was such a powerful group of individuals out there, devoted to this one cause, that might be able to help them.Because of the people in the pro-life movement, a light has been shown on the truth, for all of Texans; indeed, for all of the world to see. May God bless you for your works. And, please, do not hesitate to ask myself or my family, for anything that you may ever need in order to continue your fight for these precious lives. We are here for you and your cause, as you were here for us in ours.
We are making a difference.
Andrea is not out of the woods yet. St. Lukes still has her and she is still in danger of having her life support removed.
We need to keep going and helping this famly.
I will update when I have more information.
UPDATE II: Pro Life Blogs is reporting that a Cease and Desist Order/Motion is being filed on Monday. This will attempt to stop St. Lukes from any further movement to cut off Andrea’s life support.
Hattip: My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
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Should we start organizing the round the clock armed guards?
Any Texans up for a protest?
St. Lukes is affiliated with which church?
Can Ms. Andrea’s family afford the transportation cost? If not, I pledge $50 to raise the funds.
Jaime, the transportation costs were not the reason the trip was cancelled. The receiving facility realized that they were not equipped to handle the complexity of her care. and St Luke’s is Episcopal.
Who is paying for Andrea’s care?
That is a bit fuzzy, she does have insurance through one of Blue Cross/Blue Sheild’s affiliates, I do not know which one. I do not know if they cap lifetime payouts or not. If I had to venture a guess, I’d say that she has well and truly blown through her lifetime cap and at this point it is either being paid by medicaid or by the hospital themselves. But that is only a guess on my part.
It would appear that we, the general public, is paying. Therefore it is totally appropriate for the Hospital’s Committe to make a decision as to whether the expenditure of medical resourses in this case is wise. For every dollar spent for one case, someone else is denied care and treatment. there are finite medical resourses in this nation.
TEX06
Oh really? So how do you feel about the millions of indigents and illegals that walk into the emergency room everyday seeking help? I would suggest that they stretch the “finite medical resources in this nation” more than this single case.
Boy we have come a long way in the department of human compassion haven’t we.
The illegals should go back to their country of origin — or have their illegal employers pay for it up front in cash.
The indigent should have the same rules of medical realism applied to them as the wealthy –and even not so wealthy.
The real issue here is the very human [sometimes cloaked as "compassion"] desire to spend some one else’s money!
Squawk:
2 wrongs don’t make a right. It’s wrong to spend taxpayer’s money to fund the care of illegals. And it’s wrong to spend taxpayer’s money to provide unlimited care to a dying woman when so many others could benefit.
The facts as presented here and by the Chronicle indicate the Chicago facility determined that Andrea was too ill for them to care for. That doesn’t mean St. Luke’s reneged - it means that the Chicago facility refused to take her. Let’s place the blame where it belongs, please.
Hmmm I wonder what the reaction would have been if the story was “Woman struggling to live is kicked out of St Lukes” rather than the story that it is that some doctors decided to pull the plug?
Oh really? So how many people are losing care because of this one woman?
…and who’s to say that she’s “dying”? I haven’t spoken to both sides here, but I have not heard anybody say that the woman is terminal, or even that she’s “indigent”. There’s an awful lot of speculation going on here on the part of those who want to see St. Luke’s get their way…
Andrea is not terminal. She is not dying. She is very, very sick. She also has an amazing spirit and will to live. She has told her family she wishes to live.
As far as I am concerned, she should be allowed that chance.
If you, as a sick person, are being “graded” for lack of a better term, on your ability to pay and your “quality of life” and that is being used to decide whether or not you should be allowed to live, then we are back to the Middle Ages and Serfdom. In other words, we become the property of the state; we live and die at the pleasure of the state.
That is a very bad place for any of us to be……..
Like it or not, having to choose is reality. I, for one am glad that I do not have to make such choices.
I watched my father lay in a bed in a near vegatative state for 3 months after a massive stroke. It was his worst fear and expressed his desire to have the plug pulled in that event.
The family was not united on this issue, therefore the hospital kept him alive until his body ultimately failed.
If there is a moral in all of these scenarios is that all of us should make a living will. You cannot count on anyone else to make the right decision.
Simple
Simple:
The problem in the scenario of “living will” is this: if the hospital committee decides that your care is “futile”, it will withdraw an treatment after “reasonable” notice of 10 days.
It does not matter what your living will states; if it states that treatment will continue, the committee can decide to counter-act it.
It only takes ONE doctor to decide your care is futile. These hospital committees tend to “rubber stamp” it. Then no other hospital in the state of Texas will counter the decision. That means, if you or your family feels differently, there is no place for you to transfer to in Texas! It doesn’t matter if you can pay cash on the barrelhead, no hospital will counter-act another hospital!
Do you see the danger in this?
One Doctor will determine that a human being, no matter what, that this human will die………
It usually takes 12 human beings to decide a death penalty on a criminal that committed a heinous act.
In practice, it takes ONE DOCTOR.
Of course the insurance companies are ecstatic that this is being done.
This is a very bad place to be in the law, in our government, in business (as in healthcare business).