In shocking news, a quadriplegic patient in Texas died after being denied treatment, along with hydration and nutrition, as health officials told his family he didn’t “have much of” quality of life, according to an audio recording of the conversation that surfaced online.
According to the recording posted on YouTube by pro-life group Texas Right to Life, Michael Hickson’s wife Melissa Hickson was told during a five-minute-long conversation that her husband, who had tested positive for COVID-19, was not going to get a feeding tube because it wouldn’t benefit him.
“So, as far as remdesivir, it fits a certain criteria, and it’s not that we’re afraid of side effects. It’s that he doesn’t fit a certain criteria,” a health professional heard saying to Melissa Hickson.
The Texan identified the professional as a physician at St. David’s South Austin Medical Center in Austin, Texas.
Michael Hickson tested positive for the coronavirus on May 15. He contracted it from a staff member at a nursing facility he was staying at, according to the New American.
After testing negative on May 25, he was reportedly taken to St. David’s South Austin facility for a breathing problem and a high temperature.
He was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) the next day. He would be moved out of the ICU three days later as his condition stabilized.
In a statement released to its website, St. David’s said, Hickson’s “court-appointed guardian,” who they claim had the decision-making power over his wife, came to this decision “in collaboration with the medical team to discontinue invasive care.”
Michael Hickson, 46, leaves behind his wife and five kids.
