In the Matter of Quinlan
Significance, Accepted Standards Vs. Right To Die, Decision Is Appealed, Do States That Allow Assisted Suicide Find An Increase In Intentional Suicide Rates?
Plaintiff
Joseph T. Quinlan
Defendant
St. Clare's Hospital
Plaintiff's Claim
That doctors at St. Clare's Hospital should obey Mr. Quinlan's instructions to disconnect his comatose daughter from her respirator and allow her to die.
Chief Lawyers for Plaintiff
Paul W. Armstrong, James Crowley
Chief Defense Lawyers
Ralph Porzio (for Karen Quinlan's physicians), Theodore Einhorn (for the hospital), New Jersey State Attorney General William F. Hyland, Morris County Prosecutor Donald G. Collester, Jr.
Judge
Robert Muir, Jr.
Place
Morristown, New Jersey
Date of Decision
10 November 1975
Decision
Denied Mr. Quinlan the right to authorize termination of "life-assisting apparatus" and granted Karen Quinlan's physicians the right to continue medical treatment over the objections of the Quinlan family. Overturned by the New Jersey Supreme Court, which, on 31 March 1976, ruled that Karen's "right of privacy" included a right to refuse medical treatment and that her father, under the circumstances, could assume this right in her stead.
Related Cases
- Garger v. New Jersey, 429 U.S. 922 (1976).
- Matter of Conroy, 486 A.2d 1209 (1985).
Sources
Oregon Center for Health Statistics (State Department of Health).
Additional topics
- In re Primus - Significance
- In the Matter of Karen Ann Quinlan: 1975 - Accepted Standards Vs. Right To Die, Decision Is Appealed, Suggestions For Further Reading
- In the Matter of Quinlan - Significance
- In the Matter of Quinlan - Further Readings
- In the Matter of Quinlan - Accepted Standards Vs. Right To Die
- In the Matter of Quinlan - Decision Is Appealed
- In the Matter of Quinlan - Do States That Allow Assisted Suicide Find An Increase In Intentional Suicide Rates?
- Other Free Encyclopedias
Law Library - American Law and Legal InformationNotable Trials and Court Cases - 1973 to 1980