Tirhas Habtegiris (1978 – December 14, 2005) was a

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

resident originally from

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

, who, after being diagnosed as

terminally ill Terminal illness or end-stage disease is a disease that cannot be cured or adequately treated and is expected to result in the death of the patient. This term is more commonly used for progressive diseases such as cancer, rather than fatal injur ...

, was removed from a

ventilator A ventilator is a type of breathing apparatus, a class of medical technology that provides mechanical ventilation by moving breathable air into and out of the lungs, to deliver breaths to a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or breathi ...

against the wishes of her family. Habtegiris had a form of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

known as an abdominal

angiosarcoma Angiosarcoma is a rare and aggressive cancer that starts in the endothelial cells that line the walls of blood vessels or lymphatic vessels. Since they are made from Endothelium, vascular lining, they can appear anywhere and at any age, but older ...

which had

spread Spread may refer to: Places * Spread, West Virginia Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Spread'' (film), a 2009 film. * ''$pread'', a quarterly magazine by and for sex workers * "Spread", a song by OutKast from their 2003 album ''Speakerboxxx/T ...

to her lungs. There is debate over whether Habtegiris was

conscious Consciousness, at its simplest, is awareness of a state or object, either internal to oneself or in one's external environment. However, its nature has led to millennia of analyses, explanations, and debate among philosophers, scientists, a ...

and responsive when the respirator was removed. Her family claims that she was conscious and responsive and suffocated over the course of 16 minutes. The hospital claims that she had been unconscious and unresponsive since shortly after her admission, due to the large doses of

intravenous Intravenous therapy (abbreviated as IV therapy) is a medical technique that administers fluids, medications and nutrients directly into a person's vein. The intravenous route of administration is commonly used for rehydration or to provide nutr ...

narcotics The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "I make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...

necessary to manage her pain. Under the Texas

Advance Directives Act The Texas Advance Directives Act (1999), also known as the Texas Futile Care Law, describes certain provisions that are now Chapter 166 of the Texas Health and Safety Code. Controversy over these provisions mainly centers on Section 166.046, Subse ...

(or Futile Care Law), a terminally ill patient can be removed, at the hospital's discretion, from life-sustaining treatment that "the attending physician has decided and the review process has affirmed is inappropriate treatment." A statement from the hospital indicates they offered to hire an immigration attorney to bring the woman's mother to her bedside so that she could die in her mother's arms, but the family said that the process in their home country would take too long.

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Habtegiris, Tirhas 1978 births 2005 deaths Eritrean emigrants to the United States Medical controversies in the United States Deaths by person in Texas December 2005 in the United States

See also

References