News

Living-Will Ruling Means Man Can Die!

November 24, 2004

By Anthony Colarossi
Orlando Sentinel Staff Writer

Reprinted from Orlando Sentinel
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/

An Orlando hospital won the right Tuesday to honor Hanford Pinette's living will when a judge rejected his wife's pleas to keep the 73-year-old terminally ill patient alive.

Orange Circuit Judge Lawrence Kirkwood ruled that Pinette's "living will must be respected as his last wishes," despite Alice Pinette's insistence that her husband was alert and wanted to go home.

The decision means doctors at Lucerne Hospital can now cut off the machines and medications that are keeping Pinette alive. But the hospital's lawyer said doctors will talk with the family before taking any action.

Earlier, a tearful Alice Pinette told the judge that she could not give permission to end the treatment that was keeping her husband alive.

"Thou shall not kill, and I cannot kill him," Alice Pinette earlier told the judge during testimony. "I cannot do this and live with me myself]. When someone is talking to you, how can you do that?"

The Clermont man had signed the living will in 1998 and designated his wife to carry out his wishes, but she balked when doctors said his condition was hopeless.

"The court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the 'patient' would have made the decision to enforce his living will," Kirkwood said in his order, handed down Tuesday evening after hours of testimony earlier in the day.

Pinette's living will said he did not want medical procedures "to prolong artificially the process of dying." It stated that he wanted "to die naturally" and receive treatment only to "alleviate pain."

Doctors for Orlando Regional Healthcare System told the judge that Pinette is in a terminal state, cannot make decisions for himself and is unlikely to recover. He is hospitalized at Lucerne Hospital in Orlando, kept alive by a ventilator, a dialysis machine and medication.

Hospital officials maintained they wanted to carry out Pinette's wishes and took the case to court when Alice Pinette refused to allow them to withdraw her husband's life support.

Pinette's wife of 50 years testified Tuesday that she continues to communicate with her husband, who is alert and responsive when he wants to be.

She said that if her husband were in a coma, she could probably carry out his living will. But, Alice Pinette said, as recently as Sunday, her husband was watching football. On Monday, she said, he told family members who recently had shot a deer to "save me a steak."

Pinette showed pictures of a seemingly alert and responsive Hanford Pinette in his hospital bed. She also said her husband doesn't always respond to his doctors.

"Hank will talk to whomever he wants to," she said. "He picks and chooses now."

But Dr. Sanjay Muttreja said that without the artificial life-support measures, Hanford Pinette would die. "I cannot predict when," Muttreja said. "But that would be the end." Muttreja and Pinette's pulmonologist Juan Herran agreed that their patient's condition was not likely to improve. And they said he probably will not regain the ability to make his own decisions. "I have not seen any cognitive response from Mr. Pinette for weeks or months," Herran said. "He has had his ups and downs. The last few months, it has been all down."

Pinette, a Korean War veteran and retired engineer with the federal government, suffered from a series of conditions, including congestive heart failure, which led to multiple "organ system failure," doctors said. "We're supporting his body functions and vital signs," Muttreja said.

Kirkwood noted in his order that Alice Pinette did not offer independent evidence to challenge the doctors' conclusions. "Her credibility is questioned considering the medical evidence," Kirkwood stated. "She presented no independent verification of her perceptions of his abilities."

Alice Pinette, also 73, left Kirkwood's courtroom in tears and did not comment on the ruling. Her attorney William Ruffier said he is not sure there is an issue to appeal and doesn't think there are others who could confirm her observations. "There are obviously very tough issues for everybody, Mrs. Pinette, her husband, the family," Ruffier said, who had not yet read Kirkwood's order. "It's a decision that nobody ever wants to be in a position to have to make."

David L. Evans, Orlando Regional Healthcare's lawyer, earlier told the judge that Hanford Pinette "has done the hard work for us" by signing the living will and stating his wishes. After the ruling, Evans said the case presented a situation with no winners or losers. "It's an emotionally difficult time for both sides in that courtroom," Evans said.

Evans said he did not expect the Pinette case to generate the legislative or political action that has surrounded the battle about Terri Schiavo. The Florida woman, who lacked a living will, has been the subject of a bitter dispute between her husband and parents for more than a decade. "I hope Mrs. Pinette will come to understand why this was necessary . . . and will work with us to handle it in a private, dignified and graceful way," Evans said.

Evans added that Kirkwood's decision will comfort those who have living wills not yet exercised.

"I have a living will. Many people do," Evans said. "I hope there will be a judge who has the courage that Judge Kirkwood did today to enforce my decision."

Reprinted from Orlando Sentinel
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/

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