Haleigh Poutre Second Opinion

It appears that Haleigh, the 11-year-old girl who was beaten nearly to death and then deprived of the right to fight for life by court-sanctioned removal of her feeding tube, may have a second chance. She will be reexamined to measure her current apparent responsiveness.

But be warned: Just because she may be conscious, that does not mean she won’t be dehydrated to death. Conscious cognitively disabled patients are dehydrated all over the country. I will have more on this soon. But it is important to understand that removing tube-supplied food and water is not limited to those diagnosed as permanently unconscious.