CHRIS DUNN – DENIAL OF TREATMENT AT HOUSTON METHODIST QUESTION AND ANSWER BACKGROUNDER

Who is Chris Dunn? David Christopher “Chris” Dunn is a former EMT, Harris County Sheriff’s office employee, and Department of Homeland Security employee. Chris went to Houston Methodist Hospital approximately eight weeks ago for severe abdominal pains. After being hospitalized, doctors found a mass on his pancreas. Houston Methodist quickly decided—based on subjective quality of life judgments—that his life would not be not worth living. The hospital told the family they would withdraw his ventilator, killing him within minutes only a few days before Thanksgiving. Chris’ mother and medical power of attorney, Evelyn Kelly, contacted Texas Right to Life for help. What is Chris’ diagnosis? The hospital is unsure of Chris’ exact diagnosis. They say he shows signs of having pancreatic cancer, but they have not done a biopsy. If Chris has pancreatic cancer, such a condition is treatable. No one has claimed Chris is even terminal. In cases where pancreatic cancer is fatal, the disease usually progresses very rapidly, but Chris has been in the hospital for nearly eight weeks. Hospital administrators’ decision to withdraw only his assisted breathing is based on their subjective quality of life judgments, not based on the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of treatment. Is denying a patient treatment legal? Under the Texas Advance Directives Act (TADA), a hospital can remove treatment from a patient (conscious or unconscious) against his will, his advance directive, or his medical power of attorney. A hospital or physician can withdraw treatment even if the care is physiologically benefiting the patient. When a hospital invokes TADA, they are not required to inform the patient or family about the reasons for the removal of treatment, which could include financial, discrimination, or subjective quality of life judgments. If a family disagrees with the decision to remove treatment, they are forced to appear before a panel of hospital administrators (inaccurately called the “Ethics Committee”), who serve as judge and jury over a patient’s care. The hospital is only required to give the patient or family ten days’ notice before removing care. Texas Right to Life has helped hundreds of patients who faced denial of treatment, and the process to find other care for patients in these situations often takes weeks, not ten days, since the hospital staff is not cooperative. TADA gives hospital panels the sole authority to take a person’s life instead of empowering patients and families to make their own decisions about their care. Do other states have laws like the Texas Advance Directives Act? No. TADA is the least protective law in the country for hospital patients. West Virginia has a similar law with a fourteen-day notice period, but hospitals do not act on the law because they fear being sued. In Texas, however,

TADA grants hospitals and physicians absolute civil, administrative, and criminal immunity from any lawsuit or prosecution when they try to remove a patient’s care. Has the Texas Legislature tried to reform the Texas Advance Directives Act? Our legislative team at Texas Right to Life has spent several legislative sessions to overhaul TADA so that patients like Chris would actually be protected. Although the legislature is largely Pro-Life, a few Republicans in power in the Texas Legislature continually sided with big medical lobbies instead of with patients. A small reform bill, House Bill 3074, which prevents hospitals and physicians from withdrawing food and water (artificial nutrition and hydration) from patients, passed in the 84th session of the Texas Legislature this year, but the bill only covered a small portion of TADA. Republicans said that this compromise bill was all that could be passed since others who claim to be Pro-Life are not interested in substantially reforming TADA. Patients like Chris are still victimized by Texas law. What else is Houston Methodist doing to deny Chris care? Houston Methodist originally planned to withdraw care from Chris on Nov. 23, only three days before Thanksgiving. However, Texas Right to Life has helped Evelyn win more time to find a different facility to treat Chris. Judges have granted two extensions for time thus far, but Houston Methodist filed an injunction on Dec. 2 to take guardianship of Chris from his mother and medical power of attorney, Evelyn, although she has been the primary caregiver for Chris for months now. The hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 16. If the judge sides with the hospital, Chris will die. We encourage people to contact Houston Methodist's president and CEO, Dr. Marc Boom, at 713-441-2671 or mboom@tmhs.org. How have people reacted to this case? Chris has received overwhelming support through Texas Right to Life’s social media campaign, “Help Chris See Christmas.” More than 1,000 of our Facebook supporters are praying for Chris, including in several other states and at least three other countries. #HelpChrisSeeChristmas has been tweeted nearly 200 times, and his story has been tweeted more than 600 times—400 of which were in a single day. The two videos about Chris garnered a combined 15,000 views. More than 500 people have signed the petition, and the Thunderclap social media campaign gained 100 supporters within twenty-four hours after launching and will reach more than 100,000 people.