KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed an emergency motion in court Monday to save the life of nine-month-old Gabriel Palmer. East Tennessee Children's Hospital says it may abandon his medical care and thus cause his death even though the child is stable and a doctor says he could live for a long time.
The hospital did not change course after a letter sent Friday by an ADF-cooperating attorney on behalf of Baby Gabriel's mother which urged hospital officials to continue his medical treatment. Hospital staff told Catherine Palmer that they will no longer provide medical care for her baby despite her objections. The boy is on a respirator and medications to treat pulmonary vascular problems he developed after procedures that the hospital performed on him in October.
"A disability should not be a death sentence. No one should be allowed to decide that an innocent life is not worth saving," said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. "Doctors at East Tennessee Children's Hospital need to do the right thing and make sure Baby Gabriel gets the treatment he needs to live. He is loved by his mother, is in stable condition, and could live for a long time. The hospital's treatment--or lack thereof--of this helpless little boy is simply inhuman."
