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Texas Mother Sues Hospital for Deciding to End Life-Sustaining Treatment of Son

  • Carrie Dedrick Religious persecution, missions, Christianity around the world
  • Updated Dec 14, 2015

A Texas mother is suing the Houston Methodist Hospital for its decision to end life-sustaining treatment for her son. Christian Today reports Evelyn Kelly argues that the hospital decided to end treatment for her son Christopher Dunn after they discovered the patient did not have medical insurance. 

Dunn has been hospitalized for two months after a non-cancerous mass of tissue in his pancreas affected his small intestine, liver and kidneys. The 46-year-old, who worked as a sheriff’s deputy, survives on a ventilator and is able to communicate with hand and head motions. 

Kelly said, "The hospital wants to turn Chris' nutrients and extra air off and they are playing God. They want to kill my son. They say there is nothing else they can do for him, but I don't believe that. When they found out that Chris did not have insurance, they said they were done.”

But J. Richard Cheney, head of the hospital’s bioethics committee said that “life-sustaining treatment is medically inappropriate for Chris” under Texas law. 

A statement from Houston Methodist Hospital said, "We are working with the courts to get guidance on who has legal guardianship of the patient."

In a Dec. 2 video, Kelly’s attorney Joe Nixon asked Dunn, “Do you want to stay alive?” Dunn responded by nodding his head and putting his hands together in a symbol of prayer

Publication date: December 14, 2015