Friday, June 20th, 2008...8:36 am
Alaska Supreme Court: Schiavo-like Case
In an unpublished order issued yesterday, the Alaska Supreme Court addressed the powers of a guardian of a ward whose physicians proposed to withhold lifesaving procedures. The Office of Public Advocacy had taken the position that it “does not participate in end-of-life decisions for any of its clients.” The Court construed AS 13.26.150(e)(3) to require a guardian like OPA to decide whether or not to oppose the withholding of such procedures. The Court remanded the matter and ordered OPA to take a position. The Court dismissed the appeal of the ward’s husband, who sought to act as the ward’s surrogate.
Justice Winfree, in his first dissent on the bench, argued that the appeal brought by the ward’s husband was not moot. Winfree agreed with the Court’s construction of the guardianship statute.
Anchorage Superior Court Judge William Morse is the trial judge.
P.C. v. Dr. K., Supreme Court No. S-13123 (Alaska Supreme Court Order of June 19, 2008)
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