Brain-dead and pregnant in Texas.

When a Texas hospital continued ventilator support for a pregnant patient who met the neurological criteria for the determination of death, it acted against the wishes of the patient's husband and other family members. The hospital stated that its treatment decision was required under the Texas Advance Directives Act, in particular the "pregnancy exclusion" that instructs providers to continue life-sustaining treatment as long as the patient is pregnant, notwithstanding contrary instructions in the patient's living will or from the patient's surrogate decision-maker. Contrary to the hospital's stated position, however, neither the literal words of the pregnancy exclusion nor the Advance Directives Act read as a whole requires continued ventilator support once a pregnant patient is determined to be brain dead.

Living and dying in a post-Schiavo world.

The tragic circumstances surrounding the death of Theresa Marie Schiavo have reignited discussion regarding end-of-life decisionmaking. In this Article, the author examines the current legal and ethical environment surrounding the decision to end life-sustaining treatment. Starting with the New Jersey Supreme Court's decision in In re Quinlan, the author discusses how such important issues as who should be the surrogate decisionmaker, attitudes towards artificial nutrition and dehydration, and difficulties in defining medical futility.

Resolution of futility by due process: early experience with the Texas Advance Directives Act.

Every U.S. state has developed legal rules to address end-of-life decision making.