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Cathy Ramey
Associate Editor
Stockton judge rules on food and water
Stockton, CA--Two years after an automobile accident failed to kill him,
Robert Wendland may die by court order. Wendland, in his mid-forties, was
left first in a coma, and then "cognitively disabled" because of
injury to his brain. He became newsworthy shortly after waking up from the
coma when his wife directed that medical staff remove all food and
hydration.
Rose Wendland's decision to starve her husband met with the approval of the
Lodi Memorial hospital as well as Wendland's physician. However, Florence
Wendland, his mother, and sister Rebekah Vinson petitioned the court to bar
the hospital from implementing the younger Mrs. Wendland's request.
San Joaquin Superior Court Judge McNatt ruled that while Rose Wendland was
to be given conservatorship of her husband's estate, she could not prohibit
her husband from receiving life-sustaining care.
Because of his status as a disabled person, and because he has been
characterized as more disabled than he is, a video-tape record was made in
which Robert Wendland can be seen responding to the directives of a
physical therapist.
On Tuesday October 21, 1997 Rose Wendland went to court a second time in an
attempt to gain the court's permission to stop food and hydration to her
husband.
California's Life Legal Defense Foundation has been following the Wendland
case and advocating for him to receive full medical treatment without the
withdrawal of food and water. Dana Cody, a director with the Foundation
told reporters, "Robert's disability is not a fate worse than
death." She noted that those who were involved in the attempt to
withdraw food and water are "demonstrating nothing more than bigotry
against a severely disabled person."
Both Florence Wendland and Rebekah Vinson have offered to take on the care
of Robert Wendland, however, to date Rose Wendland has not accepted their
offers.
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