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Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: Is It Legal to Withdraw Life Support from My 36-Year-Old Partner in ICU in Washington DC and Let Her Die?

One of our clients has their 36-year-old partner in ICU, and the ICU wants to withdraw treatment without the patient or family consent. That is illegal and  I will show the evidence for that today.

My name is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com, and this is another quick tip for families in intensive care.

One of our clients has their 36-year-old partner in ICU and supposedly has a hypoxic brain injury. He’s not waking up after about two weeks in ICU, and now the ICU is rushing to say this person won’t have any “quality of life”, won’t wake up, won’t have any “quality of life”. What is quality of life? Anyway, it is a subjective measure, not an objective measure. And it’s up to the individual to make a decision what quality of life is acceptable. If the quality of life is not acceptable for the intensive care team to punish that with the death of a patient in intensive care, that’s because that’s what it is.

What we advised the client is, if life support is withdrawn without patient or family consent, that is unlawful, that is a crime, and that is potentially euthanasia, it is potentially murder, but it is definitely illegal. Here is the evidence for it. And after references that I would point towards in this video in the written version of this blog. In the US, including in Washington DC, that’s where the client is located. In the US, including Washington DC, ICU teams cannot end the patient’s life without their consent or the consent of their family or legal representative if the patient is unable to make decisions for themselves.

Generally speaking, end of life decisions are made in consultation with the patient, family, and healthcare team, with the patient’s wishes and advanced care directives, like living will or healthcare proxy, being the primary guide. However, there are exceptions, such as when a patient lacks capacity and has no family or legal representative, or when there is a conflict between the patient’s wishes and the family’s wishes. Ethical and legal considerations are patient autonomy. The principle of patient autonomy is absolutely central, meaning patients have the right to make their own healthcare decisions, including those at the end of life.

Next, informed consent. Patients need to be informed about their condition, treatment options, and potential outcomes to make an informed decision.

Next, advanced care directives. These documents, living wills, healthcare proxies, outline a patient’s wishes for future medical care, including end of life care, and can be used to guide decisions when the patient is unable to communicate.

Next, surrogacy. When a patient lacks capacity and has no advanced directives, family members or legal representatives can make decisions on their behalf based on what they believe the patient would have wanted, or in the patient’s best interest, “best interest standard”. If there is no family or legal representative, or if there is disagreement, the “best interest standard” may be used where healthcare providers consider the patient’s wellbeing and quality of life.

Let’s also look at ethics committees quickly. Many hospitals have, and I put “ethics committees”. I’ll tell you in a minute why I put it in quotes. That can provide guidance and resolution in complex end of life situations. Situations where decisions may be made without full patient or family consent.

Now, from my extensive experience, after having worked in critical care and nursing for 25 years or over 25 years in 3 different countries, where I also worked as a nurse manager in intensive care for all 5 years, those ethics committees are a farce. Ethics committees are represented from the hospital, they are hospital employees, and they can never be impartial. That’s why a consulting and advocacy service like ours here at intensivecarehotline.com is so important and so valuable, because we have the best interest of a patient at heart, whereas an ethics committee will always have the best interests of the hospital at heart. And they are hospital employees, and therefore, the decision making might also determine their next career move or not. So always keep that in mind. Always use common sense, always keep your eyes open, always trust your instincts.

Next, so, lack of capacity and no surrogate. If a patient is unable to make decisions and there is no family or legal representative, the healthcare team may make decisions based on the  “best interest standards”.

Conflict between family and patient’s wishes. If there is a conflict between the patient’s wishes, the family’s wishes, again, an ethics committee may be consulted to help resolve the conflict, but I would not, this is just for you to understand that the ethics committee are there, I would not go down that route, go down that track, because like I just explained, they are hospital employees, they’re not impartial. Their next career moves might depend on what they say in an ethics committee, and that will always be what’s in the best interest of a hospital.

Next, limited time and resource scarcity. In rare cases, if a patient’s condition is terminal and there is no hope of recovery, if the family is unable to make a decision, the healthcare team may be legally allowed to withdraw life support, but these are in rare cases. I haven’t really seen that in reality. The minute you challenge, the minute they usually back off.

Now, it’s always interesting to see, especially in this case as well, what the hospital is trying to get away with. They’re basically trying to get away with literally murder. Withdrawing life support without patient or family consent. It boggles my mind.

Here is an important note, euthanasia is illegal. Euthanasia, ending a patient’s life intentionally, is illegal in the United States.

Next, comfort care. ICU teams are ethically and legally obligated to provide comfort care and alleviate pain, even if it may shorten a patient’s life.

Shared decision making, increasingly, end of life decisions are made through a shared decision making process where the patient, family, and healthcare team work together to arrive at the decision, and you would hope that this is always the case in situations like that.

Like I said, we put references in this video in the written version of this blog, so you can see that what I’m saying has legs. Like I said, it always boggles my mind what intensive care teams are trying to get away with. I mean, always use common sense. Is it common sense that they can just end your loved one’s life without your or patient consent? No. It doesn’t.  It’s not common sense. And it’s also not reasonable.

Also, always come back to what’s reasonable. It is not reasonable to kill someone, especially if the patient can live with other life support mechanisms. For example, this particular patient probably now needs a tracheostomy to prolong their life and to give them a real chance of recovery, because that is what the family wants.

Hope that helps you understand about your legal rights in the US and in Washington DC in particular.

I have worked in critical care nursing for over 25 years in 3 different countries where I worked as a nurse manager for over 5 years, and I have been consulting and advocating for families in intensive care since 2013 here at intensivecarehotline.com.

I can very confidently say that we have saved many lives for our clients in intensive care. You can verify that on testimonial section at intensivecarehotline.com and you can verify it on our intensivecarehotline.com podcast section where we have done client interviews because our advice is absolutely life changing. That’s why we have helped so many clients and families in intensive care to improve their lives instantly. Make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power and influence, and most importantly, we make sure that your loved one gets best care and treatment always.

You can join a growing number of members and clients that we have helped over the years. We have helped hundreds if not thousands of critically ill patients and their families over the years. With that wide array of experience and getting results for our clients, you can join us here as well and get results, so that you start managing intensive care teams, so they don’t start managing you.

That’s why I do one on one consulting and advocacy over the phone, Zoom, WhatsApp, whichever medium works best for you, and I talk to you and your families directly. I handhold you through this once in a lifetime situation were, that you simply can’t afford to get wrong. Because when you have a loved one critically ill in intensive care, the stakes are very high. And that’s also why I talked to doctors and nurses directly either with you or on your behalf. I ask all the questions that you haven’t even considered asking but must be asked when you have a loved one critically ill in intensive care. I also represent you in family meetings with intensive care teams.

We also do medical record reviews in real time, so that you can get a second opinion in real time. We also do medical record reviews after intensive care. If you have unanswered questions, if you need closure, or if you are suspecting medical negligence.

We also have a membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care, and you can become a member if you go to intensivecarehotline.com, if you click on the membership link, or if you go to intensivecaresupport.org directly. In the membership, you have access to me and my team 24 hours a day in the membership area and via email, and we answer all questions intensive care related. You also have exclusive access to 21 eBooks and 21 videos that only our members have access to and all of that will help you to make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power and influence making sure your loved one gets best care and treatment always.

All of that you get at intensivecarehotline.com Call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website or simply send us an email to [email protected] with your questions.

If you like my videos, subscribe to my YouTube channel for regular updates for families in intensive care. Click the like button, click the notification bell, share this video with your friends and families.

I also do a weekly YouTube live where I answer your questions live on a show, and you will get notification for the YouTube Live. If you are a subscriber to my YouTube channel, or if you are a subscriber to my intensivecarehotline.com email newsletter.

Thank you so much for watching.

This is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com, and I will talk to you in a few days.

Take care for now.

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