Article by Cameron Spink

There is nothing more heartwrenching than the story of Ziv Magen’s last couple of weeks. As a husband he had to stand by his wife, Maiko’s, side as she succumbed to lymphoma cancer and was placed under heavy sedation and she would finally die last night. As a father he now faces the daunting task of looking after their one-year old child while dealing with the inevitable depression that comes when you lose your closest friend.

An Adult Guardian is required when the medical staff feel that the person responsible for a patient (i.e. Ziv) is not making a decision in the best interests of the patient. It is then the Adult Guardian’s role to either mediate or to take the decision from the person responsible.

In this case the Adult Guardian, Diane Pendergast, stepped in and decided to stop Maiko’s treatment, despite the treatment having a positive effect on the patient. She says:

“What the law says is, that the person who should make this decision, in this case, is the patient’s husband because they had a close and continuing relationship…. In my view he did make a decision…. He was given some advice about what was medically appropriate for his wife…. He made some decisions that doctors felt were not in her best interests.”

http://blogs.abc.net.au/files/adult-ethics-mornings-1.mp3

Her comments raise some serious questions as to what is deemed the “best interests” of a patient. Because I do believe that life is always in the “best interests” of someone. Surely it is in the best interests of a patient to continue with treatment that is having a beneficial effect upon them? Diane Pendergast elaborates more:

“Sometimes what we might value in our lives is different to the values, or to the views, that medical practitioners may have about what’s best”.

Is she for real? If medical practitioners do not “value” life as being chiefly important to their patients then they should not be doctors. In fact, if Ziv Magen’s story is to be believed, and there is no reason to question it, the doctors put incredible pressure upon him to allow his wife to die. They even went so far as to lie to him stating that his wife was “brain dead” and ignoring a neurological report.

Now this article was not written to make an example of the doctors who pushed for treatment to stop (though they should hang their heads in shame). A decision of this magnitude requires a great amount of delicacy. Doctors are not only responsible for their patients, they are also responsible for the impact that their decisions have upon loved ones. In this case no consideration was given to Ziv’s opinion nor the evidence he claims exists to support a perseverance with the treatment.

This terrible situation highlights a great need to go back to the drawing board in regards to how we perceive life. Maiko had a very low chance of recovering with the treatment she was receiving. Despite this, every effort should always be made to continue life. After all, the percentage of recovery dips dramatically after death.

It is disturbing that this incident should have occurred in Australia and it shows how far liberties can be taken even when no euthanasia laws exist. This should serve as a warning to all those who wish to undermine the right to life.

Life is a one-shot sort of thing. We should all make the best of life while we have it, there are no F9 replays. If atheism is to be believed then the doctors have done Maiko an incredible disservice by discontinuing her existence. Perhaps it is because humans are more than mere animals that I can sympathise with Ziv in his darkest hour. However, because we are more than mere animals there is hope beyond death and beyond the material realm.

Edit: Ziv Magen sent me this message after reading my article:

"I'm sorry to say the courier mail for some reason implied the adult guardian terminated Maikos life- they didn't. That discussion was to be held tomorrow, and we were preparing to fight it with all we've got.

But Maiko, perhaps wishing to prevent this , and perhaps just weakened to exhaustion by the hospital having ceased her dialysis and blood product treatments a week earlier, has slowed her heartbeat to a stop all through out the day, and peacefully died at around 8pm yesterday.

The biggest horror here is that, even without the adult guardians intervention, the GC hospital has removed Maiko's only, however slight, chance of survival, quoting "precious resources that will not be allocate to hopeless treatment" as the cause.

I'm also bewildered, to say the least, by the adult guardians statement, as they have never been to the hospital to assess Maiko, let alone decide anything about her fate. This was to happen today.

It may also interest you to know that the adult guardian's idea of a second opinion, which my lawyer requested and received, consisted of an oncology expert who made his second opinion assessment based on a telephone call to the same doctors we are disagreeing with. He never came to assess her, and I'm in serious doubt as to whether he's even seen a medical file or ICU chart."

“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”

1 Corinthians 15:55

http://www.news.com.au/national/final-hours-lost-in-battle-over-wifes-right-to-life-at-gold-coast-hospital/story-e6frfkvr-1226034372600