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HOUSTON---Andrea Clark has lost her valiant struggle for life.
She passed away peacefully a little before 3 p.m. Sunday in St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, with her family and friends at her beside.
Her death came a week to the day that the hospital had said it was going to remove all life support from the 54-year-old heart patient because the hospital's ethics committee had decided April 19 that it was medically futile to keep her alive.
Dr. Ronald Giveon, Andrea's doctor had recommended that her life be ended and her family was given 10 days to find another facility or physician to treat her or that on April 30, under the Texas Futile Care Law, her life support would be removed despite her family's wishes and the wishes of Andrea herself who, according to her family, had expressed a clear desire and strong will to live. She was a widow and had a 23-year-old son.
Although a blue baby at birth, she had led a full life.
Andrea's sisters said that the hospital dictate wasn't based on a medical decision but that they had just said, "well, she's miserable". Andrea's sister, Lanore Dixon, said that was a quality of life decision that was up to Andrea and her family.
The case became high profile with protests conducted at the hospital and the facility receiving numerous phone calls and emails from individuals around the country furious about the hospital's plan to end Andrea's life and the Texas law.
Last Monday, the futility care proceedings were discontinued with the entry Dr. Matthew Lenz into the case and the hospital had stated that they would not attempt to enact futility proceedings again as long as Dr. Lenz remained on the case.
Dr. Lenz had planned on surgically removing Andrea's diseased gall bladder Wednesday but it was decided surgery posed serious risks to her fragile condition and he opted to instead to tube drain the organ.
Melanie Childers, Andrea's sister, told The North Country Gazette that Andrea's condition declined after her gall bladder was drained on Friday.
"The doctor thought that she had a blockage in the gall bladder but found nothing", Melanie said. "Andrea's white count, which is a signal of infection, increased and her blood pressure dropped so much that she has had to be put back on the pressor medications that are so hard on the rest of her organs".
"We love her so very much and we are going to miss her terribly", Melanie said. "We hope that the battle that we fought for our sister will bring to light and bear witness to the horrible acts committed in the name of ethics in hospitals across the state of Texas".
Under Chapter 166 of the Texas Health and Safety Code, if an attending physician disagrees with a surrogate over a life-and-death treatment decision, there must be an ethics committee consultation with notice to the surrogate and an opportunity to participate. In a futility case such as Andrea's in which the treatment team was seeking to stop treatment deemed to be non-beneficial, if the ethics committee agrees with the team, the hospital will be authorized to discontinue the disputed treatment, after a 10-day delay, during which the hospital must help try to find a facility that will accept a transfer of the patient.
"The fact that we had to fight this battle is both frightening and a sad commentary on the so-called "ethics" now being practiced in medical facilities in this state", Melanie said. "The battle for life is a difficult one, in the best of situations, but when a family is put through what we had to go through at such a time, it is especially agonizing.
"We wish so much that we could have spent more time at our sister's side, when she was living and fighting for her life, rather than having to visit our attorney's office, give interviews to radio and television stations to let the public know of the
atrocity about to befall Andrea, and literally stand outside the hospital and beg them not to kill our sister. In attempting to deprive Andrea of the most basic of her human rights--life--St. Luke's Hospital managed to deprive her family and her of that which is most dear to us all, when we are faced with the death of a loved one: a proper goodbye.
"How, in the name of God, anyone can call putting someone to death when they are at their most helpless and begging for their lives "ethical," we cannot imagine".
Just a week ago with the entry of Dr. Lenz into the case and the futility proceedings halted, Andrea's family had been cautiously optimistic and Andrea's medical condition had shown signs of improvement. Her white blood cell count had been down to normal for the fourth day in a row she had been removed from drugs to increase her blood pressure that she had been taking for months.
Andrea's family says that prior to her being placed on heavy medication due to the pain from a bed sore, that she had expressed her desire to live and they say she would have related that had she not been so heavily medicated.
After undergoing open heart surgery in November, Andrea suffered some complications which required her to receive kidney dialysis and a respirator. Andrea's case appears to be yet another example of what happens when hospital "ethics" committees, without consent of family members of patients, make life or death decisions.
"Our family will not rest until this law is overturned", Melanie said. "We will not rest until this wrong is righted for others. It can never, now, be righted for us". 5-07-06
© 2006 North
Country Gazette
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