Respondent Failed to Demonstrate Insertion of Feeding Tube Would Impose an “Extraordinary Burden” Upon the Petitioner
The Fourth Department reversed Supreme Court and ordered insertion of a feeding tube under general anesthesia for petitioner, Joseph P. The Fourth Department noted there was evidence Joseph P. was “alert, awake, and communicative, … enjoys social interaction and activities” and, with a feeding tube, has “an excellent prognosis with many years of life.” The Fourth Department wrote:
It is undisputed that the “threshold requirement” under [Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act] section 1750-b for allowing Joseph P.’s guardians to make the decision to withhold life-sustaining treatment has been met … . Joseph P.’s attending physician also fulfilled the requirements of section 1750-b (4) (a) of “confirm[ing] to a reasonable degree of medical certainty” that Joseph P. “lacks capacity to make health care decisions,” and of consulting with another physician “to further confirm” that lack of capacity …. There is also no dispute that Joseph P. has “a medical condition other than . .. mental retardation which requires life-sustaining treatment, is irreversible and . . . will continue indefinitely” (SCPA 1750-b [4] [b] [i] [C]), and that, without such treatment, he “will die within a relatively short time period” (SCPA 1750-b [1]). The sole issue before us is whether, in view of Joseph P.’s medical condition and the expected outcome of the life-sustaining treatment, i.e., the surgical insertion of the feeding tube artificially providing nutrition or hydration, imposes an “extraordinary burden” on him (SCPA 1750-b [4] [b] [iii] [B]).
Upon our review of the record, we conclude that respondent failed to establish by the requisite clear and convincing evidence that providing nutrition and hydration to Joseph P. by means of medical treatment would impose an extraordinary burden on him (see SCPA 1750-b [1]; [4] [b] [iii] [B…). Matter of Joseph P. …, CA 13-00798, 4th Dept, 5-24-13