North Central College professor of health sciences quoted in New York Times

Mary Groll weighed in on court case that examines ethical obligations of health care workers

Scott Quiner, who was unvaccinated and hospitalized with Covid-19, had been on a ventilator for weeks when doctors told his wife they would be taking him off the machine. What followed was a legal case that raised questions over who has the right to make wrenching life-or-death decisions when patients cannot speak for themselves. It also underscored the tensions between people who refuse the coronavirus vaccine and the hospitals that have been filled with patients sick with the virus, a majority of them unvaccinated.

Mary Groll, professor of health sciences and chairperson of the Department of Medical Services at North Central College, was quoted in the New York Times, where she addressed the decision to take away life-sustaining machines.

“The decision to take away life-sustaining machines is more straightforward when doctors have determined that a patient meets the criteria for brain death,” said Groll. “But if a patient’s brain function is intact and a meaningful life remains possible, the decisions about medical care fall more clearly on a patient or that patient’s proxy.”

Click here to read the full article in the New York Times.