Family of 9-Month-Old Horrified TX Law Says Hospital Can Let Baby Die After 10 Days in 'Irreversible Condition'
Tinslee Lewis is a beautiful 9-month-old baby. She has gorgeous dark eyes, pudgy cheeks and a family that adores her. “She loves to cuddle — she’s a good baby,” says mom, Trinity.
But, according to CBSDFW.COM, Tinslee also has a disorder called Ebstein Anomaly — a cardiac condition in which part of the heart can swell and congestive heart failure can occur.
Doctors have performed three surgeries on the baby, and she has lived on a ventilator for over two months. She is being treated at Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas.
On Oct. 31, a day when Tinslee’s mom was doubtless thinking of future Halloweens spent trick-or-treating with her little girl, hospital officials delivered devastating news.
They informed Lewis that the hospital was invoking Texas’ “10 day law” that allows medical facilities to stop treatment after a patient has persisted in an irreversible condition for 10 days.
The doctors had determined that Tinslee’s condition was irreversible, triggering the beginning of the 10-day window.
Winifred King, hospital spokeswoman, said the hospital stands by the diagnosis and “there is nothing more than can provide to help improve this precious child’s life.”
Tinslee’s family disagrees.
The girl’s great aunt, Beverly Winston, said, “We are a family who believes where there’s just a little air, there’s hope. So, don’t take nothing from her that you know she needs. Regardless of your reason, what the law is — she deserves the chance to fight for her life, and she has a troop who will help her 100 percent and above.”
According to CBSDFW.COM, the family has teamed with Texas State Rep. Tan Parker to fight for Tinslee’s life.
“We want to find a way to allow her to have a permanent, wonderful blessed life,” said Parker, as he and the Lewis family search for another hospital willing to take in Tinslee.
In the meantime, a Texas court has stepped in, granting a temporary restraining order against the hospital until Nov. 22 — meaning Tinslee must continue to be treated until then.
The hospital, however, is sticking by its diagnosis.
“In the last several months, it’s become apparent her health will never improve. Despite our best efforts, her condition is irreversible, meaning it will never be cured or eliminated. Without life-sustaining treatment, her condition is fatal. But more importantly, her physicians believe she is suffering,” a statement from the hospital said.
Cook Children’s Hospital has also reached out to nearly 20 hospitals attempting to arrange a transfer, but so far no other facilities are willing to accept her, according to Fox News.
Officials at Cook said “… doctors have had to keep her constantly paralyzed and sedated … While Tinslee may sometimes appear alert and moving, her movements are the result of being weaned off of the paralyzing drugs. We believe Tinslee is reacting in pain when she’s not sedated and paralyzed.”
The case is somewhat similar to a case that captured the world’s attention in the spring of 2018 in which the British government denied life support to baby Alfie Evans.
Italy granted Alfie citizenship and travel provisions so that he could be treated there, but the British government, stunningly, refused to allow Alfie and his family to travel for treatment.
The Lewis and Evans cases aren’t identical, but they do work together to paint a cautionary tale for Americans.
The UK’s socialized medical system was responsible for Alfie’s death. He was too big a drain on the system to justify being kept alive, and the government bureaucrats wouldn’t let him travel to get outside treatment. Welcome to medical care brought to you by socialists.
If Tinslee dies soon, it won’t be because of government interference. But it will break the hearts of Americans across the country. And that heartbreak should be remembered because it will be experienced hundreds and thousands of times over if the American healthcare system ever goes the ways of nationalized healthcare systems outside the U.S.
When that happens — when there’s only single payer, single provider, and the federal government footing the bill — the government then gets to decide who’s treated and who isn’t. And then we’ll begin to see little Tinslees and little Alfies all over the place.
Every American should be able to agree that we want fewer horrible cases like Tinslee’s. The single payer, nationalized health system that Democrats want will not eliminate those cases. It will multiple them.
As Tinslee’s case plays out against a backdrop of America’s fight over socialized medicine, Americans should do two things.
First, they should consider a world where the deaths of Tinslees and Alfies become an everyday occurrence, and then do everything possible to fight that future.
And second, more than anything else, Americans should pray for Tinslee, Trinity, and the rest of the Lewis family. They need it.
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