Breakthrough! Injured pastor given food, water
Thomas Redmond
Nine days after his food and water were halted in the hospital where he is being treated, and less than 24 hours after WND highlighted the plight of Pastor Joshua Kulendran Mayandy, he has been fed.
A report from Alex Schadenberg, director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, today confirmed the patient who has been hospitalized since a heart attack in May was given sustenance.
"After meetings with our legal counsel, several doctors and a lawyer from the Christian Legal Fellowship, a major breakthrough happened today," Schadenberg reported. "The court-appointed Substitute Decision Maker (SDM) has given permission for a nurse, who is a member of the church, to feed Joshua orally.
"Today, Joshua was fed orally and I was told it went very well," he reported.
Schadenberg still remains cautious about the pastor's future, however, since the original agreement instituted by a government board that found that the best case result would be for physicians to take Mayandy off life support systems, including food and water, and allow him to remain hospitalized until his death, remains.
Schadenberg said if the appointed "decision-maker" again changes his mind, Mayandy again could be left without food or water. If that does occur, however, he reported, his organization might be prepared to take quick legal action to challenge the actions.
The case developed after Mayandy, a Sri Lankan who arrived in Canada about 10 years ago to pastor a small church, complained of chest pain and was hospitalized after collapsing with a heart attack May 29.
He was revived successfully, although the apparent brain damage from the attack left him in a coma for a time. He was placed in intensive care where he regained consciousness. An eyewitness then reported he regained movement in his arms and legs and that he recognizes the family with whom he is living.
According to Bernard Stephenson, another pastor and friend who visits Mayandy daily, the injured man can speak some words.
But staff with Brampton Civic Hospital, which is part of the William Osler Health Center, disagreed. According to Stephenson, doctors asserted there was no hope of recovery.
The disagreement over his condition and capacity triggered in Ontario the involvement of the region's "Consent and Capacity" board, which by law determines the proper medical treatment for patients unable to make decisions themselves.
The system requires a strategic decision-maker for patients. Because that usually is a family member, it posed a problem for Mayandy because of the distance to his family in Sri Lanka.
As a result, Stephenson said, the hospital removed Mayandy's feeding tube, prompting his church supporters to file a complaint and get a court-appointed attorney.
The attorney contacted Mayandy's sister, Malika Arumugan, but the "consent board" determined she did not understand the situation. Instead, the board appointed a friend to represent the pastor.
 Determination letter for Pastor Mayandy |
The board's decision, after hearing from "all parties," ruled that Brampton Hospital could remove Mayandy's feeding tube and other modes of life-support, including intravenous fluids.
"We are satisfied, based on the evidence we heard and the agreements of all parties, that the patient remains treatment incapable with respect to all treatments," said the determination letter, signed by Jill Presser as presiding member of the board.
The board further ruled that Mayandy would need to ask for food and water for it to be given.
"As an example only, if the attending physician hears Pastor Mayandy make a capable request for food or water, he will be fed and hydrated."
The conclusion was that Mayandy would not recover.
Schadenberg said he was concerned the hospital had put pressure on Mayandy's friend, whose name has been redacted from the decision letter, to support its decision.
He said it was not a case of a dying man simply being withheld food and water, but that "decision appears to have been made to intentionally cause death by withdrawing IV hydration and nutrition because he is unlikely to recover from his disability."
Mark Handelman, an attorney for Brampton Civic Hospital, said, "Justice was seen, and justice was done."
He said the decision was unanimous and denied that any pressure was applied to Mayandy's friend.
Schadenberg, however, points out that Ontario is "$20 billion in debt."
"There are unwritten rules. One of them is that long-term care is simply too costly," he said.
This is the issue that has generated considerable alarm in the United States as President Obama's nationalization of health care decision-making begins to take effect this year, and progressively takes more and more control over health care decision-making in coming years.
Critics such as former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin have cited Obamacare plans to cut $500 billion in spending from health care on seniors based on decisions the government would make – and called those decision-making operations "death panels."
Obamacare critics have explained that the government will have to make deliberate decisions depriving patients of care that could extend their lives simply to save that money.
The current case recalls the high-profile life and death of Terri Schiavo, who died after being deprived of food and water in a Florida dispute that made headlines nationally.
In Mayandy's case, friends have explained the pastor's health improved through his treatment, and WND was told he is alert, can move his arms and hands, and is doing some limited talking.
Aug. 27, 2010