CRUZAN BY CRUZAN v. HARMON

No. 70813.

760 S.W.2d 408 (1988)

Nancy Beth CRUZAN, By co-guardians, Lester L. CRUZAN, Jr. & Joyce Cruzan, Respondents, v. Robert HARMON, et al., Appellants, v. Thad McCANSE, Appellant-Guardian Ad Litem.

Supreme Court of Missouri, En Banc.

Rehearing Denied December 13, 1988.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

William L. Webster, Atty. Gen., Robert Presson, Ass't. Atty. Gen., Robert Northcutt, Gen. Counsel, Missouri Dept. of Health, Jefferson City, Thad C. McCanse, David B. Mouton, Carthage, for appellants.

William H. Colby, Kansas City, Walter E. Williams, Joplin, for respondents.

Carter G. Phillips, counsel of record, Mark E. Haddad, Washington, D.C., Mark A. Thornhill, Kansas City, Kirk B. Johnson, Edward B. Hirshfeld, Chicago, Ill., for amicus curiae American Medical Ass'n.

David E. Everson, Jr., Kansas City, for amicus curiae, American Academy of Neurology.

Stanley S. Herr, University of Maryland, School of Law, Baltimore, Md., Blake Wolf, Joplin, James Bopp, Jr., Thomas J. Marzen, Mary M. Nimz, Daniel Avila, Teresa Kealy, Joel M. Barkow, Nat. Legal Center for the Medically Dependent and Disabled, Inc., Indianapolis, Ind., for amicus curiae, Assn. for Retarded Citizens of the U.S. and the Ethics and Advocacy Task Force of the Nursing Home Action Group.

Giles R. Scofield, III, New York City, Richard D. Watters, St. Louis, for amicus curiae, Concern For Dying.

Jane Adams Nangle, St. Louis, Fenella Rouse, M. Rose Gasner, Elena N. Cohen, Richard Wasserman, New York City, for amicus curiae Soc. for the Right to Die.

James S. Cole, St. Louis, for amicus curiae, Missouri Citizens for Life.

Kathleen M. Boozang, St. Louis, for amicus curiae, SSM Health Care System and the Center for Health Care Ethics, St. Louis University Medical Center.


ROBERTSON, Judge.

Nancy Cruzan lies in a persistent vegetative state in the Mount Vernon State Hospital. Lester L. Cruzan, Jr., and Joyce Cruzan, her parents and co-guardians, requested that employees of the hospital terminate artificial hydration and nutrition for Nancy. The hospital's employees refused to carry out this request without authority from a court. The Cruzans filed a declaratory judgment action seeking a judicial sanction of their wishes. Following a...

Let's get started

Leagle.com

Welcome to the leading source of independent legal reporting
Sign on now to see your case.
Or view more than 10 million decisions and orders.

  • Updated daily.
  • Uncompromising quality.
  • Complete, Accurate, Current.

Listed below are the cases that are cited in this Featured Case. Click the citation to see the full text of the cited case. Citations are also linked in the body of the Featured Case.

Cited Cases

  • No Cases Found

Listed below are those cases in which this Featured Case is cited. Click on the case name to see the full text of the citing case.

Citing Cases