Healthcare Directive -When Can Parent Legally Make an End-Of-Life Decision?

Healthcare Directive - Twenty-one-year-old Damaire was brought to Erie County Medical Center in the early morning hours. Damaire’s father was told that the person found Gordon on the side of the road, wrapped in a blanket and dropped him off at the hospital.

He was brain dead. He had no gunshot or stab wounds, and there were no signs of blunt-force trauma.

“I thought I would be seeing my son hurt some type of way that was very bad,” said Gordon’s father Mister Sommerville. “But, when I got there I saw my son had no trauma…and they can’t explain to me why he’s lifeless.”

Sommerville was told by his son’s mother Regina Gordon-Sayles that their boy was brain-dead at the hospital.

WKBW’s recent article, “A man was found brain-dead, but neither parent could legally make an end-of-life decision” reports that Gordon-Sayles said that she was a single mother of five and said that Sommerville had not been involved in Damaire’s life. However, he became very involved, when it came time to make a decision about his passing.

Damaire’s mother was set to remove her son off the respirator, but his father refused to consent.

“I was so confused about why I needed another consent,” said Gordon-Sayles.

The problem is that neither parent could give legal consent to take their son off life support, because Damaire hadn’t designated either parent as his healthcare directive. Under Article 81 of the New York State Mental Hygiene Law, the matter would have to go to a judge, who would start the process to appoint the best person to handle end-of-life decisions.

A medical power of attorney, also called an “Healthcare Directive” or “Health Care Proxy,” is a document that allows a person to provide someone with the authority to address health care decisions on their behalf, if they’re not able to do so themselves.

Unfortunately, these situations occur more frequently than we would wish. Making a bad situation more heartbreaking is traumatic for the family.

The situation is a matter of liability for the hospital. Every person has the right to due process, when it comes to making decisions for themselves, even in death. However, if that person can’t make a decision for herself, a judge must intervene and appoint an appropriate party.

Damaire’s father didn’t like the care his son was getting at ECMC and wanted more of an investigation into why the young man was in a brain-dead state, when doctors found only marijuana in his system. Doctors told both parents that they were restricted in the type of drugs for which they could screen, without an autopsy.

Damaire’s case went before a judge to appoint a proxy. The judge decided to continue his investigation into the case and didn’t take any action for more than a week. Damaire’s heart stopped beating the next day. His mom said a friend of his told her the truth about what happened to him, days later.

“He got ahold of some fentanyl, and I don’t know if my baby was laced…I don’t know if he took it himself, but it had something to do with fentanyl.”

“I was told when it happened, my son went into attack mode, he dropped, and they put him on the porch because they didn’t want to be charged with it.”

An Estate Planning Attorney can help you decide.

Reference: WKBW (November 5, 2019) “A man was found brain-dead, but neither parent could legally make an end-of-life decision”