Ruling forces parents to transfer terminally ill son
Source: Agencies |
March 16, 2011, Wednesday
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Print Edition
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A CANADIAN couple transferred their terminally ill infant son to a Catholic hospital in St Louis, Missouri, after an Ontario court ruled that doctors could remove the breathing tube keeping the boy alive.
Thirteen-month-old Joseph Maraachli arrived at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital on Sunday after the hospital agreed to treat the boy. The hospital issued a statement on Monday saying Joseph arrived in serious but stable condition and was being evaluated by doctors.
Joseph's doctors at London Health Sciences Centre in Ontario, where he had been treated since October, determined he was in a permanent vegetative state and his condition was deteriorating, and they planned to take him off of assisted breathing.
Joseph's parents, who lost an 18-month-old child to the same disease eight years ago, challenged the hospital's finding in court but lost. Moe Maraachli and Sana Nader contended that removing their son's breathing tube would cause him to suffocate and cause him undue suffering, and they sought to compel doctors to give Joseph a tracheotomy that would allow him to breathe through a tube inserted into his throat. They said the tracheotomy could extend his life up to six months - as they say it did for their other child who died - and would allow him to die at home.
After losing in the courts, Joseph's parents enlisted support for their cause using social media sites, but the hospital refused to reverse course. So they began reaching out to US hospitals, and Cardinal Glennon agreed to care for their son.
On Sunday, a plane carrying Joseph, his father, and the Reverend Frank Pavone of the New York City-based group Priests for Life flew to Cardinal Glennon. Priests for Life, which lobbies against abortion rights and euthanasia, paid for the flight.
Moe Maraachli did not return phone messages on Monday. But Pavone said the parents are simply trying to extend the life of their child and make sure he doesn't suffer.
"The parents are saying: 'This is our child. We believe his life is worth extending,'" Pavone said.
London Health Sciences Centre said the hospital's judgment was supported by pediatric specialists in both countries along with Ontario's Consent and Capacity Board.
Thirteen-month-old Joseph Maraachli arrived at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital on Sunday after the hospital agreed to treat the boy. The hospital issued a statement on Monday saying Joseph arrived in serious but stable condition and was being evaluated by doctors.
Joseph's doctors at London Health Sciences Centre in Ontario, where he had been treated since October, determined he was in a permanent vegetative state and his condition was deteriorating, and they planned to take him off of assisted breathing.
Joseph's parents, who lost an 18-month-old child to the same disease eight years ago, challenged the hospital's finding in court but lost. Moe Maraachli and Sana Nader contended that removing their son's breathing tube would cause him to suffocate and cause him undue suffering, and they sought to compel doctors to give Joseph a tracheotomy that would allow him to breathe through a tube inserted into his throat. They said the tracheotomy could extend his life up to six months - as they say it did for their other child who died - and would allow him to die at home.
After losing in the courts, Joseph's parents enlisted support for their cause using social media sites, but the hospital refused to reverse course. So they began reaching out to US hospitals, and Cardinal Glennon agreed to care for their son.
On Sunday, a plane carrying Joseph, his father, and the Reverend Frank Pavone of the New York City-based group Priests for Life flew to Cardinal Glennon. Priests for Life, which lobbies against abortion rights and euthanasia, paid for the flight.
Moe Maraachli did not return phone messages on Monday. But Pavone said the parents are simply trying to extend the life of their child and make sure he doesn't suffer.
"The parents are saying: 'This is our child. We believe his life is worth extending,'" Pavone said.
London Health Sciences Centre said the hospital's judgment was supported by pediatric specialists in both countries along with Ontario's Consent and Capacity Board.
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