January 14, 2014
Erick and Marlise Munoz with their son, Mateo. Marlise Munoz/Facebook
(Photo courtesy dallas.culturemap.com)
The husband of a brain-dead, pregnant Texas woman has sued the hospital keeping her on life support against his wishes.
Erick Munoz filed a lawsuit in state district court in Fort Worth, where his wife, Marlise Munoz, has been on life support since he found her unconscious in their North Texas home on Nov. 26. She was 14 weeks pregnant at the time. Her family says the exact cause of her condition isn’t known, though a blood clot is a possibility.
Erick and Marlise Munoz, both paramedics, had seen life and death up close and he previously told The Associated Press that his wife was clear with him: If she fell into a condition like this, pull life support and let her die.
John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, however, has refused to take Marlise Munoz off machines, citing a state law the hospital says requires it to continue treating a pregnant patient.
Munoz’s lawsuit says that law doesn’t apply because Marlise Munoz is legally and medically dead. The condition of her fetus is unclear.
“Marlise Munoz is dead, and she gave clear instructions to her husband and family — Marlise was not to remain on any type of artificial ‘life sustaining treatment,’ ventilators or the like,” the lawsuit said. “There is no reason JPS should be allowed to continue treatment on Marlise Munoz’s dead body, and this court should order JPS to immediately discontinue such.”
The Tarrant County District Attorney’s office, which is representing the public hospital, said its attorneys were reviewing the lawsuit and had no immediate response Tuesday. Hospital spokeswoman J.R. Labbe previously has said hospital officials stand by their position: “This is not a difficult decision for us. We are following the law.”
The Texas Advance Directives Act reads in part that, “A person may not withdraw or withhold life-sustaining treatment under this subchapter from a pregnant patient.”
But experts say the hospital is incorrectly applying the statute because Munoz is brain-dead and beyond any chance of recovery.