Hospital Ethics Committees Intervene When Patients And Providers Disagree. Here's How They Work.

Arlington TX

18 October, 2021

7:31 PM

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By Alexis Allison, Fort Worth Report October 18, 2021 The mother of Tinslee Lewis, a 2-year-old who's spent most of her life at Cook Children's Medical Center, held out hope that her daughter could live. She'd seen it in a dream, according to court documents obtained by the Fort Worth Report. When Tinslee was born early in February 2019, a heart defect prevented her blood from moving to her lungs for oxygen. Her organs weren't fully developed and her heart pooled with blood. For months, Tinslee's physicians provided her with an aggressive regimen of care, but after her already tenuous health spiraled in July 2019, her treatment team decided she couldn't be saved. Her mom, Trinity Lewis, disagreed. In October 2019, at the request of her physicians, the hospital's ethics committee stepped in. In a unanimous vote, the committee determined Tinslee's life-sustaining treatment should end. Lewis filed a restraining order against the hospital, and in the months since, multiple court proceedings have kept her case afloat and Tinslee alive. In January 2022, the 48th district court of Tarrant County will decide not only if Cook Children's can withdraw Tinslee's treatment but consider the constitutionality of a law called the Texas Advance Directives Act, which governs the dispute resolution process in conflicts like this one. To read the full article, click here. Fort Worth Report is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that produces factual, in-depth journalism about city and county government, schools, healthcare, business, and arts and culture in Tarrant County. Always free to read; subscribe to newsletters, read coverage or support our newsroom at fortworthreport.org.