What do you do when you can't do anything to help someone without a feeding tube?

[nodito]

I have a follow-up question to this one answered by Michelle Arnold:

My husband’s grandfather, a devout non-Catholic Christian, is dying from cancer. Before he became incapacitated, he made it clear to his family his desire not to have a feeding tube or receive intravenous fluids. He recently became unable to swallow or to speak, and his wife and children have respected the directives of his living will. As a result, he has not had any nutrition in several days.

This troubles me greatly but I’m unsure what the moral course of action from my standpoint (or that of my father-in-law, who is Catholic) should be. Michelle previously advised that a person could not respect the wishes of someone refusing a feeding tube on principle. Does this hold even if a person has a legally-binding living will? Other than praying for his soul, what is required of a family member such as myself who is not directly involved in making decisions about his care? What is required of those responsible for making decisions about his medical care?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

The proper course of action for those who can take legal action (in this case, the wife) is to immediately do what is necessary to get this man on a feeding tube and IV. I am not a lawyer, and so do not know precisely what must be done, but I would imagine that it would mean asking the courts for authority to make medical decisions on behalf of someone who is now incapacitated. Whether or not this would be legally successful, I don’t know. But I cannot imagine just standing by watching your husband and the father of your children starve himself to death without at least attempting to do what is right.

As for you and your husband, you might want to consult with an attorney yourselves to be certain, but I doubt there is anything you can do to take action if there is a living will in place signed before incapacitation and the legal wife of the patient refuses to do anything to challenge the living will. But you can contact the National Catholic Bioethics Center to ask for information you can give to your husband’s grandmother about the suffering that starvation causes and for any information they might have on any other course of action you can take.

My prayers are with you and your family during this difficult time. God bless.