Tirhas Habtegiris

Who was Tirhas Habtegiris?

Tirhas Habtegiris, a legal female immigrant into the United States from Eritrea, was removed from a respirator under Texas law against the wishes of her family, Habtegiris had cancer that had spread to her lungs and she was diagnosed as terminally ill.

There is debate over whether Habtegiris was conscious and responsive when the respirator was removed. Her family claims that she was conscious and responsive and suffocated over the course of 16 minutes. The hospital claims that she had been unconscious and unresponsive since shortly after her admission, due to the large doses of intravenous narcotics necessary to manage her pain.

Under the Texas Advance Directives Act, a terminally ill patient can be removed, at the hospital's discretion, from life-sustaining treatment that "the attending physician has decided and the review process has affirmed is inappropriate treatment." In particular, it does not allow or even address withdrawing treatment simply because of inability to pay, contrary to erroneous media reports. The hospital claimed that financial considerations had nothing to do with the decision.