Christine Busalacchi

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how in the matter of Christine Busalacchi, nurses and nursing organizations in Missouri and Arkansas asked for permission from the Missouri Supreme Court to submit an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief. Busalacchi suffered serious injuries in an automobile accident that left her in a persistent vegetative state (PVS) and dependent on a feeding tube for nutrition. It looks at how they wanted to fight the decision of her father (Guardian) to have the feeding tube removed, which would result in Busalacchi?s death. The nurses, some of whom were providing care to Busalacchi, objected to the father?s request to stop providing food and water. It explicates the nurses? reasoning and the decision that the author would have reached if he had been a justice on the Missouri Supreme Court.

From the Paper:

"The nurses highlighted the distinction between terminal patients and "non-dying patients" (NDP). Withdrawing treatment from a terminally ill patient simply hastens death, and such an action is not at all controversial. Indeed, withdrawing treatment from terminally ill patients does not require court approval. But Busalacchi is not dying, and the nurses are not providing any life-saving treatment that could be withdrawn to hasten her death. The food and water that Busalacchi receives do not delay her death, but rather sustain her life."

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