AUSTIN, Texas — A probate judge Tuesday issued a temporary restraining order so that a toddler named Emilio at Children’s Hospital of Austin can continue to receive medical treatment while his lawsuit moves forward. The judge set a new hearing date for April 19, when an Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney will help defend the boy’s right to life.
“We are very pleased that the court today has agreed that little Emilio should continue to receive the treatment he needs to live while this case moves forward,” said Joshua Carden, the ADF-allied attorney working on the case along with lead counsel Jerri Ward. “The Children’s Hospital of Austin should do the right thing by Emilio. Instead, the hospital made the wrong decision by attempting to subject this little boy to ‘death by vote.’”
Though doctors are not certain in their diagnosis, they believe Emilio has Leigh’s Disease, a condition that is treated primarily through vitamin therapy. But on March 12, an “ethics” committee at the Children’s Hospital of Austin voted behind closed doors to end treatments for Emilio, deeming his life “futile.” Without the treatments, the boy will likely die in a matter of hours.
The hospital had intended to cease Emilio’s treatments Tuesday, but because the probate judge granted the temporary restraining order for Emilio, the boy will continue to receive his treatments until the new hearing date. On April 4, a federal judge had refused to issue such an order (
www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4065).
Under Texas law, a hospital is required to wait only 10 days before discontinuing treatment, to allow for a transfer to another hospital willing to admit the patient. Due to litigation, the 10-day window in Emilio’s case had been extended until April 10.
The Probate Court of Texas issued the temporary restraining order in the case
Gonzales v. Children’s Hospital of Austin.
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