| Statutory Citations | Colorado |
Colorado Patient Autonomy Act [1992, 1994], Colo. Rev. Stat. §§15-14-501 to 15-14-509.
Documents
Free advance directive documents and instructions from Partnership for Caring.
| Court Cases |
Colorado |
| Case | In re Rodas, No. 86PR139 (Colo. Dist. Ct. Mesa Co. Jan. 22, 1987, as modified, April 3, 1987) (Buss, J.). |
| Court | Colorado District Court |
| Year | 1987 |
| Patient (age) | Hector Rodas (34) |
| Nutrition + hydration | Nasogastric tube |
| Mental capacity | "Locked-in" state (mentally alert, but paralyzed, making it difficult to communicate) |
| Decision maker(s) | Patient |
| Setting | Hilltop Rehabilitation Center (Grand Junction, CO) |
| Patient's Wishes | Rodas indicated (using eye signals and a letter board) that he wanted to terminate artificial feeding and hydration and all other treatment keeping him alive. |
| Court's Decision | The court argued that Rodas's decision was rational and reasonable, that Artificially-provided Nutrition and Hydration (ANH) was a medical treatment that could be refused like any other, even if the patient could live for many years if ANH were continued, and that continued treatment against a patient's wishes constituted a battery.
Note: This is a trial court decision, not binding on other courts or in other cases within the state, but it is the only case to date where these issues have been considered, and so it may provide some guidance until an appellate court in Colorado creates an operating precedent. |
| Outcome | Rodas died on February 6, 1988, after his ANH was terminated in the Hilltop Rehabilitation Center's hospice. |
| Citation | Partnership for Caring, Inc. (2001), Fact Sheet, In re Rodas |
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