1. Quinlan, a 22-year-old female, specifically made known her wish not to have her life maintained indefinitely by the use of a breathing machine. After an apparent overdose of alcohol and drugs, Quinlan fell into a coma, suffering severe brain damage. Upon admission to the hospital, she was attached to a respirator, but unfortunately entered into a persistent vegetative state. After several months, Quinlan’s family requested that she be removed from the respirator and allowed to die. Her physicians, however, determining that she was not in a terminal condition, were reluctant to discontinue her life support. Will Quinlan’s family be successful in their efforts to have Quinlan removed from the respirator?
2. For more than 20 years, Harlick, a 38-year-old female, suffered from anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder. She was covered by her employer’s health insurance plan through Blue Shield, and was treated for her disorder through this plan. Her doctors then advised her that she required residential treatment. Harlick and her doctors ultimately determined that none of the in-network facilities suggested by Blue Shield could provide effective treatment, so she registered at a residential treatment facility that specialized in eating disorders. While Blue Shield paid for the first 11 days of treatment, it then refused to pay for the rest of her treatment. Must Blue Shield pay for Harlick’s treatment?
3. The Department of Health and Human Services denied Medicare coverage for the BIO- 1000, a piece of durable medical equipment used to treat osteoarthritis of the knee (a degeneration of cartilage and the underlying bone). In a series of decisions, the Department ruled that this equipment had not been shown to be reasonable and necessary for treatment of this disorder. The supplier of the device, International Rehabilitative Sciences Inc., sued, arguing that the decisions were arbitrary, capricious, and not supported by substantial evidence. Will the supplier be successful in its lawsuit?