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Key Players &
Background Story
· Mom (Joan Castner)
· Dad (Ren Castner)
· Husband (Richard Bouvia)
· Richard Scott (Attorney)
· Superior court of California
· California's Riverside General Hospital staff
Elizabeth Bouvia was born on September, 1958 with cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder caused by brain impairment that affects body & muscle movements and loss of motor function. Although cerebral palsy can be later acquired, most people with cerebral palsy are born with it. Elizabeth needed assistance with daily living activities such as: showering, eating, and dressing. Elizabeth also used a wheelchair to maneuver her way around. When Elizabeth was 10 she was sent to Angel View Crippled Children's Foundation home in Desert Hot Springs by her mother, where she stayed until she was 18 years old. She later attended San Diego State University. With the help of a state financed home attendant and secretary used for writing, she was able to acquire a bachelor's degree and begin her masters degree. She attempted at having a normal life by marrying Richard Bouvia, but separated shortly after a month. According to Olivia, he was not able to adapt to her paralysis and debts caused by her needs. Elizabeth was disabled and unemployable. In 1983 at the age of 26 she was admitted to California's Riverside General hospital, she was suffering from arthritis and was almost completely paralyzed. This is when she decided it’ll be better to end her life with the help of the hospital.
October: started on morphine drip to combat severe, constant pain
December: transferred to High Desert Hospital, no longer deemed in need of acute care
Supreme Court denies Elizabeth's appeal in January of 1984
September: Enters County-USC Medical Center
State appeals court affirms Bouvia's right to make her own decisions towards her care, and orders the feeding tube to be removed.
April 16, 1986
1985
December, 1983
September, 1983
April, 1984
January, 1986
May 23, 1986: transferred back to County-USC by court order.
Sues High Desert to remove her nasogastric feeding tube
Elizabeth travels to Tijuana to attempt starvation, but the staff at Hospital Del Mar also deny her wishes.
Denied by Superior Court Judge Warren Deening
- In April 1986 in a landmark decision, California state appeals court affirms Bouvia’s right to determine the course of her medical treatment, including the right to refuse force feeding. Her feeding tube was removed by court order.
- Bouvia ends up in Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center by that May, where she is kept on a morphine regimen to manage the pain of her severe arthritis.
- The morphine treatment caused the side effects of starving to be unbearable. So although she had permission to carry out her wishes, Bouvia found herself unable to endure the process of starvation.
- She spoke to the LA Times in September 1992, soon after her attorney Richard Scott committed suicide. She reported to be eating a normal diet of solid food, although she still had no desire to live.
- She has since stayed out of the media. The most recent mention of her was in an obituary in 2008, which said she was still alive.
Let's review
Elizabeth Bouvia's congenital neurological disorder caused by brain impairment that affected her body & muscle movements and caused her eventual loss of motor function is called ______ ______ .
Hospital staff forcefully intubating Bouvia is an example of _____________ .
The hospital Elizabeth Bouvia first went to and sued when they denied her request is called _________ Hospital.
Bouvia's case was one of many we have learned about in class that influenced the passing of the _____ ____ ______ Act.
How old was Bouvia when she passed away?
Beyette, Beverly. (1992, September 13). The reluctant survivor: 9 years after helping her fight for the right to die, Elizabeth Bouvia's lawyer and confidante killed himself--leaving her shaken and living the life she dreaded. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com
Getty Images (1990) photo.
Johnson, Mary. (1987, February) Right to Life, Fight to Die: The Elizabeth Bouvia Saga.
Retrieved from http://www.raggededgemagazine.com
MyChild at CerebralPalsy.org. (2017). Definition of Cerebral Palsy. CerebralPalsy.org. Retrieved from http://www.cerebralpalsy.org/
O’Dell, R. M. (2011). The Bouvia case revisited: An introduction to the bioethical topics of individual rights, acts of conscience, and the right to die. Online Journal of Health Ethics, 7(2), 6-7. doi: 10.18785
Pence, G. (2017). Medical ethics: accounts of ground breaking cases. New York, NY: McGraw Hill Education. (Original work published 2008)