6-month-old baby boy dies after life support pulled

[Skillz Unlimited]

Six days ago, a 6-month-old baby boy named Sun Hudson died when Texas
Children's Hospital disconnected his life support, against the wishes
of his mother, because they decided that further treatment was
"futile" and Wanda Hudson, the boy's mother, had no medical insurance.
The Houston Chronicle reported:

Sun's death marks the first time a hospital has been allowed by a U.S.
judge to discontinue an infant's life-sustaining care against a
parent's wishes, according to bioethical experts. [...]
Texas law allows hospitals can discontinue life sustaining care, even
if patient family members disagree.



A far more important case, one would think, than the Terri Schiavo
case. In the Hudson case, for the first time ever, a hospital
bureacracy terminates the life of a child (who was not in a vegetative
state), against his family's wishes, when the family can't pay their
bills. If that's not an important case, what is?

As it happens, the Texas Futile Care Law that empowered the hospital
to pull the plug was signed into law by then-Governor George W. Bush.
A number of left-wing blogs have pointed to the law as proof of Bush's
? and the Republicans' ? hypocrisy. Austin lawyer Jerri Lynn Ward
says, however:

[T]he legislation was passed to prevent hospitals from withdrawing
life-prolonging treatments from patients and the fear [was] that the
hospitals were creating and implementing such protocols because of
money.
According to Ward, the use to which the hospital put the law in the
Hudson case was unanticipated and unintended by the law's authors. Be
that as it may, it seems clear that money motivated the hospital's
decision: surely, if the mother had money, the hospital would have
acceded to her wishes. Attorney Ward again:

I do know that, as an attorney representing health providers ?
including hospice ? I have given presentations to providers about the
legal aspects of treatment options under Texas Law for children with
terminal diseases. One thing that I taught was that the Courts would
always defer to the treatment decisions of the parents.
I was wrong. I will have to revise my powerpoint presentation because
of the judge in this case ? and this bothers me.

It is certain that this baby was funded by Medicaid. Had the parents ?
or an insurance company been paying the bills ? I do not believe that
the hospital would have gone to the courts to pull the respirator. It
is probable, in my mind, that this respirator was pulled because of
the issue of money. That should bother everyone.



So where's the Republican outrage in the Sun Hudson case? Where's the
maudlin, wall-to-wall "Save Terri" type of media coverage? There's no
interest in the Sun Hudson case because there's no political advantage
to be gained there. And the Hudsons aren't the Republicans' ? or the
media's ? kind of folks. They're poor, and they're Black.


Is it fair to ascribe cynical political motives to Senate Republicans
in this case? Actually, yes. We don't have to guess. ABC News obtained
a memo of talking points prepared for Senate Republicans regarding the
Terri Schiavo case. It's on ABC's website. A few choice items from the
memo:

This is an important moral issue and the pro-life base will be excited
that the Senate is debating this important issue.
This is a great political issue, because Senator Nelson of Florida has
already refused to become a cosponsor and this is a tough issue for
Democrats.
This legislation ensures that individuals like Terri Schiavo are
guaranteed the same legal protections as convicted murderers like Ted
Bundy.
So the Republicans see the Schiavo case as a way to defeat Bill Nelson
in 2006 and a way to "excite" their "pro-life base". Evidently,
though, pro-life is one thing and pro-poor-Black-life is another.
Meanwhile, the disgusting media circus continues.


Part of the reson they made such a big deal about the Schiavo case was to turn your eyes and ears from the announcement "iraq invasion all wrong, no weapons of mass destruction". Bush fucked up and was muffling it with Schiavo. Schiavo is not a special case, the shit happens all the time. No one cares when it happens to black people.

[HpicAnn]

This story is very sad a baby being diconnected for parents not having enough money to pay hospital this is inhuman

[jukeboxfrank]

That sucks big big time......This is the shit that happens when courts let doctors
do what they want. I wonder if the pro kill Terri Schiavo people will feel this was the right thing to do. After all the doctors said there were no hope for this child and
again the parents did not want to stop care.......Sometimes I feel the human race
are just a bunch of animals that can talk. thank god this child did not have to stave to death.

[Paraskass]

Bush voted to pass this law while he was governor.

OH, the IRONY.

[crockett]

Say thanks to George Bush Jr.. He signed that into law as gov of Texas.. Which is quite ironic when you think about how he spoke out about the whole Terry Schiavo case..

[lickmymonster]

You think a hospital system should pay millons to keep a baby without lungs heart beating because some religous nut case who talks in tongues refuses to belive that the child cannot survive.

And yes the hospital system paid for 6mos of life support and the parents attorneys.

[Susan F]

Politics are just a bunch of lies told to everyones momentary advantage. Every politician will say and do what suits them best at that moment.

[Damian_Maxcash]

I know plenty of health pros and not one of them would pull the plug on 6 month old for financial reasons.

They are saying they found a group of people, including health pros, that would be willing to make that descission.

I would say there was a lot more to it than is being said here.... the usual creative editing of the facts