Monday, February 14, 2011

Struggling with End of Life Care


HORSHAM, Pa. -- Abigail Sandler has fought for clearer rules on who calls the shots when a group-home resident becomes deathly ill ever since her mentally disabled sister got sick in 2006 in Horsham, setting off a conflict between the home's administrators and her family.
Sandler says her sister Aimee's group home, Lynch Homes, balked at the decision of Aimee's uncle, her legal guardian, not to insert a feeding tube. Aimee had stopped eating, and two doctors said she was terminally ill.
The case was a messy one - Aimee actually had an undiagnosed, treatable problem - but Sandler says it raised questions of who has the legal upper hand if families disagree with care providers, who often have sought all-out medical care for their intellectually disabled charges.

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