The Karen Quinlan case: problems and proposals

Karen Quinlan, a young American girl, has lain in hospital since 15 April 1975 without any prospect of recovering consciousness. Her breathing is assisted by means of a respirator and she is fed through a tube inserted in her stomach. Her adoptive parents applied to the courts for permission for the respirator to be switched off. The judge refused permission. Using the Quinlan case as an exemplar, Mr. Kennedy analyses the medical points one by one against the legal background. He would like to see established a code of practice to assist doctors in such cases who at present have no legal guidance. A set of rules arising as a consequence of a series of court decisions would be undesirable; rather a code should be drawn up as the result of discussion between the many people concerned and the consensus so arrived at.