Babe on life support granted a reprieve

Apr 11 2007

A judge in Texas has granted a family's request to keep their critically ill baby alive and ruled against the hospital's wishes, that his life support should not be switched off.

Emilio Gonzales who is 17 months old has been in the Austin Children's Hospital since December 2006.

The hospital says its medical efforts are futile and potentially painful and believe the child is suffering.

An unusual state law, signed by George W. Bush when he was governor, has been invoked, which allows hospitals to determine when life support should be discontinued, giving families 10 days notice.

Catarina Gonzales, aged 23, Emilio's mother, has challenged that decision, and has been granted more time by the judge.

She denies her son is unresponsive and says he smiles and turns his head toward voices.

Doctors and a hospital ethics panel have determined the treatment is causing the boy to suffer without providing any medical benefit.

It is thought Emilio has Leigh's Disease, a progressive illness which is difficult to diagnose; he is unable to breathe on his own, cannot swallow or move and has nutrition and water pumped into him.

The hospital says Emilio's higher-order brain functions are destroyed and a nationwide search for a new facility by his mother has failed.

Family lawyers say the boy's death would essentially be by asphyxiation which would be a painful way to die.

Legal representatives for the hospital say the care needed to keep the child alive is very aggressive and invasive and is ethically and morally wrong.

Another hearing has been set for April 19 to consider Emilio's case.

As Emilio has health coverage through Medicaid, the hospital says money is not the issue.

Texas is one of the few states with a timetable allowing hospitals to decide when to end life-sustaining treatment.

Texas Right to Life says it has been involved in more than 24 such cases in the last 18 months and is currently helping the Gonzales family.

Such cases, according to supporters of the law, are rare, and in most cases family and hospitals come to an agreement on the treatment of such patients.