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In April 1975, a young woman fell into a coma after coming home from a friend’s party. Her name was Karen Ann Quinlan, and her case would change Americans’ medical care.
Doctors determined she was in a persistent vegetative state, with little hope of recovering cognitive ability. Her parents, devout Catholics, wrestled with what to do. After months, they requested that her respirator be removed, but the hospital refused.
Fifty years ago this month, New Jersey’s Supreme Court ruled in the parents’ favor. Ever since, that landmark decision has shaped patients’ and families’ rights to refuse treatment as the end of life approaches. The decision “rejected centuries of physician paternalism – of ‘doctor knows best,’” writes bioethicist Robert Olick. He explains how the case paved the way for an idea that many Americans take for granted today: that patients and their loved ones should be part of the conversation, too.
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Karen Ann Quinlan’s case has remained a touchstone for other debates about end-of-life care.
ljubaphoto/E+ via Getty Images
Robert S. Olick, SUNY Upstate Medical University
Karen Ann Quinlan fell into a coma in 1975. The high-profile legal case over her parents’ wish to remove her ventilator shapes American patients’ rights today.
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Science + Technology
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Laela Sayigh, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
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Sundeep Venkatesan, Binghamton University, State University of New York
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Aaron Brynildson, University of Mississippi
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Politics + Society
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Marla Miller, UMass Amherst
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Matt A. Barreto, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs; Gary M. Segura, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs
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International
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Joseph J. Gonzalez, Appalachian State University
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Education
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William McCorkle, College of Charleston
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Environment + Energy
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Perry Samson, University of Michigan
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Economy + Business
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Beth Schinoff, University of Delaware; Elana Feldman, UMass Lowell
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