Haleigh Poutre (born February 24, 1994) is an American woman
who became the subject of a legal controversy regarding the removal of life
support for patients in persistent vegetative states. In 2006, 11-year-old
Poutre awoke from a coma shortly before she was scheduled to be removed from
life support. Poutre had a severe brain injury thought to be caused by abuse by
her adoptive mother…
Following criminal charges, the department of social
services took custody of 11 year old Haleigh. Eight days after she was admitted
to the hospital, Harry Spence, the commissioner of the Massachusetts Department
of Social Services, sought to remove Haleigh from life support. Physicians
involved in the case asserted that Haleigh was in a vegetative state, and
"virtually brain dead." On Oct. 5, 2005, a judge approved the
request. Jason Strickland, Haleigh's stepfather, appealed the decision. Although Jason Strickland had never legally
adopted Haleigh, he opposed the decision on the basis that he was the de facto
parent.
Complicating the issue was the criminal case against Jason
Strickland. If Haleigh died, the state could bring murder charges against
Strickland. But if she lived, even in a vegetative state, the charges brought
against Strickland were significantly less severe. Many perceived the actions
of Strickland to be an attempt at evading homicide charges.
On January 17, 2006, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled
in favor of the Department of Social Services that life support could be
removed. On January 18, 2006, as
physicians were preparing to remove life support, Haleigh regained
consciousness. In the presence of Harry Spence, social workers asked Haleigh to
identify a series of items in front of her and she successfully completed the
task. The order to remove life support was cancelled.
A number of Right to Life groups got involved with Haleigh
Poutre's case and many noted parallels between this case and the high profile
Terri Schiavo case which ended in her death earlier that year. Schiavo's family
contacted Mitt Romney regarding the case. The family runs the Terri Schindler
Schiavo Foundation Center for Health Care Ethics Inc. Schiavo's father, Bob
Schindler Sr., commented that there have been many similar cases and his
foundation's goal is "essentially to guard against this rush to
judgment."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haleigh_Poutre
Haleigh Poutre, the brain-damaged girl at the center of a
passionate end-of-life debate, was transferred yesterday from a pediatric
intensive-care unit to a Brighton rehabilitation center, two days after the
state's top child-protection official saw her pick up a Curious George stuffed
animal and a yellow duck on command.
''It's her incredible will to live," said Harry Spence,
commissioner of the state Department of Social Services, which has had custody
of the 11-year-old girl since she was brought, badly beaten, to a hospital last
September and lapsed into a coma.
Spence, who has been criticized for seeking to remove her
life support as soon as eight days after her hospitalization, said he visited
Haleigh for the first time ''out of some sense of responsibility."
He said he wanted to see the girl whose fate he will help determine.
''I needed to put myself in the place of a parent," he said.
During his 30-minute visit Tuesday evening at Baystate
Medical Center in Springfield, Spence said he noticed her eyes tracking his
movements some of the time. He said that, except for her arms, her body did not
move.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Spence emphasized that
he is not a physician and that he cannot evaluate the significance of these
signs.
Many neurologists say that patients with extensive brain
injuries often, despite significant recovery, end up with severe disabilities.
Still, Spence said his first instinct, after seeing Haleigh, was to say,
''We've got to start this child in rehab."
Spence's comments offered the most vivid account of the
condition of Haleigh, whose story has drawn national attention to end-of-life
issues, as well as to the agency's failure to protect her against abuse at
home. Haleigh's adoptive mother and stepfather were charged with her near-fatal
beating in September.
Spence again defended the agency's decision to move quickly
to remove Haleigh's life support.
Doctors had said she was in a vegetative state, and
''virtually brain dead." On Oct. 5, a juvenile court judge approved the
request, but the stepfather appealed to the Supreme Judicial Court to keep her
alive. Many in his hometown of Westfield saw that as a way for him to avoid
further charges.
The week before the SJC ruled on Jan. 17 that life support
could be removed, DSS ordered a new round of tests on Haleigh after her
biological mother visited and described the girl as being responsive. Based on
the new tests, doctors told DSS officials that there was ''not a chance"
of recovery, Spence said.
But a day after the high court's ruling, doctors told DSS
that they had noticed significant improvements in Haleigh, saying, in effect,
''Oops, we're seeing something," Spence said. Haleigh was off the
ventilator and had begun to show increasing responsiveness.
On Tuesday, Spence said, he went to Haleigh's room at
Baystate and noticed a quiet brown-haired girl lying in bed. In front of her,
he said, there were three objects: a yellow duck, a Curious George stuffed
animal, and a yellow block. He said a DSS social worker accompanied him, and
she said, ''Haleigh, this is Harry."
''Give him the yellow duck," the social worker said,
according to Spence's recollection.
Haleigh picked up the yellow duck, he said.
''Where's Curious George?" the social worker asked
Haleigh.
Haleigh then picked up the stuffed animal, Spence said.
''It's an astounding case," he said.
Haleigh did not appear to be grimacing or making sounds
suggesting she was in pain, he said.
Spence said he remains hopeful that she will continue to
move and that she will express herself more. He reiterated that his agency has
suspended any efforts to remove life support.
He said that he has asked several pediatric neurologists to
further evaluate Haleigh at her new home, Franciscan Hospital for Children in
Brighton.
Some neurologists say Haleigh's actions suggest she may have
moved into a ''minimally conscious state," in which patients are aware of
their surroundings and can respond to commands.
That condition could sometimes strengthen arguments to
withdraw life support, because such patients can feel pain, some medical
ethicists said. Patients in a vegetative state, on the other hand, are
oblivious to the agony that is part of their life.
''Suffering requires consciousness," said Dr. Robert L.
Fine, a medical ethicist at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas.
Children are more likely than adults to significantly
recover from severe brain injuries, and some neurologists say they would want
to wait at least a year before concluding that a child had stagnated in that
state with no hope for a better life.
''I wouldn't give up before a year," said Dr. Douglas
Katz, medical director of the traumatic brain injury program at Braintree
Rehabilitation Hospital.
Katz said many patients in a minimally conscious state can
track movements with their eyes and even pick up objects. But only when they
begin to pick up objects and use them appropriately are they believed to have
gained a higher level of consciousness.
At best, however, these patients generally stay ''extremely
disabled," Katz said.
In 2008, Haleigh was released from Brighton rehabilitation
hospital to live as a foster child with Keith and Becky Arnett in Southwick,
Massachusetts. She was adopted by the Arnetts in 2010 at the age of 16 and
attended a special education program in the Southwick public school system. She
remains substantially disabled and relies on a wheelchair, but is able to feed
herself and use a letterboard to communicate. Regarding the attack, Haleigh's adoptive
father reports that she knows she was hurt, but is unable to remember any
specifics about the event.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haleigh_Poutre
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