| Statutory Citations | North Dakota |
Uniform Rights of the Terminally Ill Act [1989, 1991, 1993, 2001], N.D. Cent. Code §§23-06.4-01 to 23-06.4-14.
Documents
Free advance directive documents and instructions from Partnership for Caring.
| Court Cases |
North Dakota |
| Case | In re Bayer, No. 4131 (N.D. Burleigh Co. Ct. Feb. 5, 11 and Dec. 11, 1987) (Riskedahl, J.). |
| Court | North Dakota Burleigh County Court |
| Year | 1987 |
| Patient (age) | Ione Bayer (61) |
| Nutrition + hydration | Nasogastric tube and forced syringe feeding via a tracheostomy tube |
| Mental capacity | Persistent Vegetative State (PVS) |
| Decision maker(s) | Husband |
| Setting | Missouri Slope Lutheran care Center (Bismark, ND) |
| Patient's Wishes | Ione Bayer's husband sought to have tube feeding withdrawn because he did not think she would want it continued in her present condition. |
| Court's Decision |
The judge agreed that (1) Ione Bayer would not want continued feeding, (2) that she had the right to refuse such feeding (based on both the North dakota and federal constitutions), (3) that a surrogate had the right to refuse this feeding on her behalf (using "substituted judgment") provided that the state's interest did not outweigh her interests (he ruled they did not, because of the the invasiveness of the treatments and the irreversibility of her condition), and (4) that the right to forgo tube feeding applied equally well to withdrawing treatment as to withholding treatment in the first instance. Note: This is a local court decision and, as such, it is not binding on other courts in North Dakota. |
| Outcome | The attending physician refused to comply with the court's decision, and nearly 200 other physicians contacted refused to take over Mrs. Bayer's care. Mrs. Bayer was taken to her daughter's home where she was cared for under the direction of the West Fargo Hospice. She died of pneumonia 12 days later. |
| Citation | Partnership for Caring, Inc. (2001), Fact Sheet, In re Bayer. |
 |
 |
