Nancy Cruzan Case Summary

On June 25, 1990, the family appeals to the United States Supreme Court, but the court denied their request once again. On August 30, 1990, Cruzan’s parent request a second hearing from Judge Charles Teel because they believed that they had enough new evidence to prove that their daughter would rather die, than to want to live this way. Finally on December 14, 1990, Judge Teel declares that the parents have the authority to have the feeding tube removed (Chicago Tribune, 1990). After the feeding tube was removed, Nancy Cruzan passed away peacefully on December 26, 1990.

After 3 years of hoping Nancy would get better the Cruzan family decided that taking Nancy of the feeding and hydration tube is what Nancy would have wanted and what they thought was best. However the Cruzan's request was refused by the Missouri Department of Health. They believed they needed clear and convincing evidence that taking their daughter of the feeding and hydration tube is what Nancy would have really wanted. The Cruzans disagreed they thought that as her legal guardians they would speak for the decision she can not physically make. The Cruzans then took this to local court, but the case did not stop their. It made its way to the Supreme Court and became known as Cruzan v. Missouri Department of Health. Final outcome of the case was 5-4 in favor of the Missouri Department of Health. "The Court felt that the Cruzan case was best explored in the area of 'liberty' rather than 'privacy.' The Supreme Court upheld the authority of States to demand “clear and convincing” evidence of the injured person's wishes."(Cruzan by Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health. (n.d.). Oyez. Retrieved December 8, 2015, from

Her cause of death was a mix of Respiratory Failure, Epilepsy (because her parents were cousins) and Cerebral Palsy.

case could have been legal by the constitution, but it was not part of the

he was dangerous to no one, that he was not mentally ill, and that the hospital was not providing

The Court had to consider whether death penalty for a minor is would be a “cruel and unusual” punishment under the Eight and Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

What did the appellate court rule? Did it agree with the trial court (affirm) or disagree (reverse)?

The issue here becomes whether the court’s decision was the right one or if they could have come up with a different decision had the case been studied from different perspectives making the decision wrong. Both arguments (for and against the Court’s decision) are discussed below, but I personally believe that court’s decision was the only right one to make.

The refusal of this surgery led to the death of the baby boy. There were officials at the hospital that didn’t agree with withholding the surgery from the baby boy and so decided to take it the Indiana Juvenile Courts and the court had actually ruled in the favor of the parents. Five days after the decision was made by the courts, the baby boy has died of dehydration and pneumonia. At first, the Indiana Supreme Court didn’t be to hear the argued that the parents had denied the

Without advanced directives, Schiavo's situation formulated tension within legal and healthcare communities. Several physicians proclaimed Schiavo was in a persistent vegetative state, diagnosing her with no higher order of brain functioning to be able to conceive collective thoughts, while other health care providers disagreed. Additionally, Schiavo's parents and husband had adverse sentiments towards what actions to proceed with Schiavo's state, arising contradictory conceptions within the

She was diagnosed with cervical cancer. While receiving treatment at John Hopkins Hospital,

She was deprived of oxygen for so long that she obtained permanent damage to her brain. Subsequent to being revived, she was taken to a hospital where she was determined to be incompetent. Although she was able to breath, she was unable to consume any sort of nutrition, so she had a gastrostomy tube put through her abdomen in order for the food to go directly to her stomach. Nancy Cruzan’s parents disliked in the manner by which she the hospital kept her living. Nancy Cruzan’s parents sought to remove the life support equipment because

There have been many court cases, even some taken as far as the United States Supreme Court, which involved issues such as preserving/prolonging life and DNR. Roberts presents the case Cruzan versus Director of Missouri Health Department.

The U.S. Supreme Court reversed the decision. They found that the studies were flawed. In addition, they stated that the Constitution did not prohibit death qualified juries.

All her relatives asked me what happened but the only thing I could say was that she died of shock but did not answer the reason of what made her die of shock because my heart felt to painful to relive that moment.