Citing religious reasons, they have launched a legal fight to keep him on life support
Medical practitioners generally agree that loss of brain function constitutes death. But one brain-dead man’s family is fighting for the legal right to contest that assessment.
Twenty-five-year-old Toronto resident Shalom Ouanounou has been brain-dead at Humber River Hospital since suffering cardiac arrest over a month ago. The coroner’s office already issued a death certificate for him, but his orthodox Jewish family insist that he is still alive, reported the National Post.
Standing up for their faith, Ouanounou’s family has launched an unprecedented legal case that could upend the way hospitals, doctors, and coroners handle declarations of death in the country. Under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the family say, the fact that their religion does not regard brain-death as the end of someone’s life gives them a right to reject brain-death declarations.
The family wants the coroner’s office to nullify his death certificate. They also want the hospital to continue providing life support until his heart stops permanently.
“Shalom’s belief is that discontinuing life support in these circumstances is murder and therefore contrary to his fundamental belief in the sanctity of human life,” said Ouanounou’s father, Maxime Ouanounou.
Presiding judge Justice Glenn Hainey has issued a temporary injunction to prevent the hospital from shutting off life support while the case is ongoing. Hospital staff are also required to administer CPR in case the man’s heart stops.
Dr. Alison Fox-Robichaurd, a critical-care medicine professor at Hamilton’s McMaster University, told the Post that brain-dead patients can only breathe and circulate blood because of the machines pumping air into their lungs. She added that requiring doctors to continue treatment in such cases strains resources, doctors, and nurses that are already overextended.
“Can you imagine if your 20-year-old son is in a car accident … and there is no ICU bed available because the court has demanded we continue to breathe for somebody who has been dead for two weeks?” she said.
But Hugh Scher, a lawyer for the Ouanounous, cited laws giving families the right to demand continuing treatment despite brain death on religious grounds exist in the US states of New Jersey, New York, California, and Illinois.
“We do many things in our multicultural society to reflect the firmly held beliefs of all members,” added Mark Handelman, another lawyer for the family. “Now you have a person at his most vulnerable moments. Why is that different than any other accommodation?
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Twenty-five-year-old Toronto resident Shalom Ouanounou has been brain-dead at Humber River Hospital since suffering cardiac arrest over a month ago. The coroner’s office already issued a death certificate for him, but his orthodox Jewish family insist that he is still alive, reported the National Post.
Standing up for their faith, Ouanounou’s family has launched an unprecedented legal case that could upend the way hospitals, doctors, and coroners handle declarations of death in the country. Under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the family say, the fact that their religion does not regard brain-death as the end of someone’s life gives them a right to reject brain-death declarations.
The family wants the coroner’s office to nullify his death certificate. They also want the hospital to continue providing life support until his heart stops permanently.
“Shalom’s belief is that discontinuing life support in these circumstances is murder and therefore contrary to his fundamental belief in the sanctity of human life,” said Ouanounou’s father, Maxime Ouanounou.
Presiding judge Justice Glenn Hainey has issued a temporary injunction to prevent the hospital from shutting off life support while the case is ongoing. Hospital staff are also required to administer CPR in case the man’s heart stops.
Dr. Alison Fox-Robichaurd, a critical-care medicine professor at Hamilton’s McMaster University, told the Post that brain-dead patients can only breathe and circulate blood because of the machines pumping air into their lungs. She added that requiring doctors to continue treatment in such cases strains resources, doctors, and nurses that are already overextended.
“Can you imagine if your 20-year-old son is in a car accident … and there is no ICU bed available because the court has demanded we continue to breathe for somebody who has been dead for two weeks?” she said.
But Hugh Scher, a lawyer for the Ouanounous, cited laws giving families the right to demand continuing treatment despite brain death on religious grounds exist in the US states of New Jersey, New York, California, and Illinois.
“We do many things in our multicultural society to reflect the firmly held beliefs of all members,” added Mark Handelman, another lawyer for the family. “Now you have a person at his most vulnerable moments. Why is that different than any other accommodation?
Related stories:
Assisted-dying advocates discouraged over inadequate fees
Ontario practitioners against assisted suicide fight for right to say ‘no’
