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Cruzan vs Missouri
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Cruzan vs. Missouri Impact
Works Cited
In the instance of an accident if the victim doesn't previously state their wishes, who decides their fate since they would be unable to?
Supreme Court Summary
CRUZAN v. DIRECTOR, MISSOURI DEPT. OF HEALTH. The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago- Kent College of Law. 05 December 2012. <http://www.oyez.org/cases/1980-1989/1989/1989_88_1503>.
"Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Dept. of Health (1990)."Infoplease. Pearson Education, n.d. Web. 6 Dec 2012. <http://www.infoplease.com/us/supreme-court/cases/ar08.html>.
This case states that clear and convincing evidence is needed before being able to take a patient off of life support. This gives the victim a voice when in reality they do not really have one.
The Supreme Court voted in favor of Missouri's decision in a 5-4 vote.
They agreed that "clear and convincing" evidence of the injured person's wishes were needed. Not all family members would act in the best interest of the victim and their decision would be irreversible.
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Now people can state their wishes in their living will on how they would like the situation to be handled if they were ever to become catastrophically injured.
Case Judges
Judges who approved
Who didn't approve
O'Connor
Rehnquist
Brennan
Marshall
White
Kennedy
Scalia
Stevens
Blackmun
Continued...
Cruzan casually stated before the accident she would never want to live as a "vegetable" wasn't clear enough of a decision. The Missouri Supreme Court refused the termination of life support and the Cruzan family appealed the case to the Supreme Court.
Cruzan vs. Missouri
Circumstances
(1990)
Continued...
Nancy Cruzan was 25 years old when she was in an automobile accident in 1983. She had massive injuries which left her unconscious. Cruzan was placed on life support and fed through a feeding tube. After 3 weeks of being in a coma, she emerged but remained in a persistent vegetative state. Doctors said that Cruzan could survive in her present condition, being supported by life support, but had no chance of recovery.
A Missouri district court approved the request, but a director from the Missouri Department of Health appealed the case to the Missouri Supreme Court saying they needed more proof that it was the victim's decision.
Continued...
Five years after the accident, Cruzan still remained on life support. Finally, her family asked for Nancy's feeding tubes to be removed. Most of the hospitalization fees were being covered by the state due to the Cruzan's family lack of resources.