Britannica Sources used in this answer

How did the Karen Ann Quinlan case establish the right to refuse medical treatment?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

A pediatrician in a white coat listens to a young boy's chest with a stethoscope during a health exam; the boy is smiling and pulling aside his shirt. — health law Physicians must provide proper and skillful care to their patients.

The 1976 landmark case In re Quinlan established that the legal right to refuse medical treatment is a fundamental principle of patient autonomy, even for those unable to speak for themselves.1

When Karen Ann Quinlan’s parents sought to remove her from a mechanical ventilator after she entered a persistent vegetative state, physicians refused, citing medical ethics. In court, the family argued that the issue was not one of medical ethics but of an individual's legal right to refuse highly invasive treatment that offered no chance of recovery.1

The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in favor of the family, determining that:
* Patients possess a legal right to refuse medical treatment.1
* This right to privacy includes the ability to decline life-sustaining interventions.2
* Guardians may exercise this right on behalf of an incompetent patient.1

To protect medical professionals, the court decreed that if an ethics committee confirmed the patient's prognosis, the treatment could be withdrawn with legal immunity for all involved parties. This ruling became a paradigm for modern health law, eventually expanding to support the right of all competent patients to refuse any medical treatment, including artificial nutrition.1