With the help of Compassion and Choices, the family of Emily DeArmond has filed an action against Kaiser Health Plan seeking monetary damages and an order that Kaiser institute policies to ensure that their providers respect patients’ treatment instructions.
Emily DeArmond lived with brain cancer for most of her young life. As she approached her final months, her parents met with her oncologist, her neurosurgeon and a medical ethicist to discuss Emily’s care in light of her rapid decline. Together they completed a POLST.
Several weeks after completion of the POLST, Emily’s parents found her unconscious in bed. They rushed her to a nearby emergency room affiliated with Kaiser, Emily’s provider. They told the staff about her POLST, which included the order: Do Not Intubate. They did not want Emily to endure any painful, invasive procedures in her final days. But the emergency physician failed to honor the order and forced a breathing tube down Emily’s throat. She endured the presence of the tube until she was transferred to another Kaiser facility, where doctors withdrew it and allowed Emily to die.
While there are other pending lawsuits concerning resuscitation in contravention of DNR orders and advance directives, this may be the first lawsuit for failure to comply with a POLST.
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