Death of Tirhas Habtegiris

Tirhas Habtegiris (1978 – December 14, 2005) was a United States resident originally from Eritrea, who, after being diagnosed as terminally ill, was removed from a respirator against the wishes of her family. Habtegiris had a form of cancer known as an abdominal angiosarcoma which had spread to her lungs.

There is debate over whether Habtegiris was conscious and responsive when the respirator was removed. Her family claims that she was conscious and responsive and suffocated over the course of 16 minutes.^[1] The hospital claims that she had been unconscious and unresponsive since shortly after her admission, due to the large doses of intravenous narcotics necessary to manage her pain.

Under the Texas Advance Directives Act (or Futile Care Law), a terminally ill patient can be removed, at the hospital's discretion, from life-sustaining treatment that "the attending physician has decided and the review process has affirmed is inappropriate treatment."^[2]

A statement from the hospital indicates they offered to hire an immigration attorney to bring the woman's mother to her bedside so that she could die in her mother's arms, but the family said that the process in their home country would take too long.

References[edit]

^ Frank, Robert H. (January 19, 2006). "Weighing the True Costs and Benefits in a Matter of Life and Death" – via NYTimes.com.
^ "Texas Health & Safety Code §166.046".

Baylor Health Care System Media Statement on the Facts regarding Tirhas Habtegiris at the Wayback Machine (archived July 24, 2008)
Baylor Health Tirhas Habtegiris Case: Medical History at the Wayback Machine (archived June 4, 2008)
St. James, Janet (2005-12-14). "Woman's death highlights health insurance crisis". WFAA-TV. Archived from the original on 2006-01-06. Retrieved 2006-01-22.
Fink, Jack (2005-12-14). "Family debates hospital's action in woman's death". CBS 11 News. Archived from the original on 2006-02-10. Retrieved 2006-01-22.
Landsburg, Steven E. (2006-01-03). "Do the poor deserve life support?". Slate. Retrieved 2006-01-22.

[1] Frank, Robert H. (January 19, 2006). "Weighing the True Costs and Benefits in a Matter of Life and Death" – via NYTimes.com.

[Texas_Health_and_Safety_Code-2] "Texas Health & Safety Code §166.046".

[1]

[2]

v t e Medical ethics cases
Assisted suicide	Betty and George Coumbias Dax Cowart Giovanni Nuvoli Sue Rodriguez Ramón Sampedro Piergiorgio Welby Jack Kevorkian
Euthanasia/ Withholding treatment	Andrew Bedner Tony Bland Paul Brophy Carol Carr Baby Doe Law Eluana Englaro June Hartley Vincent Lambert Robert Latimer Baby M Haleigh Poutre Karen Ann Quinlan Terri Schiavo Gloria Taylor
Medical opinion against parent/patient/guardian	Betancourt v. Trinitas Hospital Commonwealth v. Twitchell Mordechai Dov Brody Lantz v. Coleman Alfie Evans case Archie Battersbee case Charlie Gard case Tirhas Habtegiris Rom Houben Sun Hudson case Baby K Ashya King case Jesse Koochin Joseph Maraachli case Jahi McMath case Sarah Murnaghan Spiro Nikolouzos case Aruna Shanbaug case David Vetter
Informed consent to treatment	Ashley Treatment Gillick competence Marion's Case Schloendorff v. Society of New York Hospital Christiane Völling
Research	Abdullahi v. Pfizer, Inc. Albert Stevens Albert Kligman's dermatology experiments David Reimer Deep sleep therapy Doctors' Trial Guatemala syphilis experiment Henrietta Lacks Human radiation experiments J. Marion Sims Jesse Gelsinger Joseph Gilbert Hamilton Moore v. Regents of the University of California Surgery to try to improve mental health Medical Experimentation on Black Americans Milgram experiment Monster Study Radioactive iodine experiments Skid Row Cancer Study Stanford prison experiment Study 329 Plutonium injections Tuskegee Syphilis Study Willowbrook State School Greenberg v. Miami Children's Hospital Research Institute

See also[edit]

References[edit]