For the hospital personnel to take advantage of legal immunity from prosecution for this the following process must be followed: The bill was signed into law while George W. Bush was Governor of Texas.
[citation needed] On March 15, 2005, six-month-old infant Sun Hudson, who had a lethal congenital malformation, was one of the first children to have care withdrawn under the Texas Futile Treatment Law.
[1][2] Doctors demonstrated in the ethics committee reviews that keeping the infant on a respirator would only delay his inevitable death.
[3][4] She had reportedly signed a statement she did not wish to die and was cognizant, although having difficulties communicating while under heavy medication and after her brain was damaged by internal bleeding and the effects of heart disease.
In March 2007, Children's Hospital of Austin gave the mother of 16-month-old Emilio Lee Gonzales the 10 day notice under this act.
This child suffered from Leigh's disease, an invariably fatal, progressive illness which eventually destroys all nerve function and thereby prevents breathing, swallowing, coughing, or any intentional or reflex movement.
[5] On April 10, Travis County Probate Judge Guy Herman issued an emergency restraining order to prevent the hospital from removing Emilio Gonzales from his respirator.
According to Fine's data, the hospitals surveyed held 2,922 ethics committee consultations, 974 of which concerned medical futility cases.
"[9] The major criticisms of the act involve the period of time allowed to transfer, and the ability of the ethics committee to make the final decision on whether continued care is considered futile.
In 2015, the Texas Legislature unanimously passed HB 3074[12] by State Representative Drew Springer (R-Gainesville), a bill to stop dehydration and starvation of persons with disabilities by reforming the aspect of the statute which allowed healthcare providers to remove artificial nutrition and hydration against a patient's wishes.
HB 3074 is the first reform effort to garner universal support from advocacy groups with 4 joint authors and 81 co-authors in the House of Representatives.