Brief Fact Summary. Storar had been incompetent for life and was dying of cancer when his guardian (Defendant) declined to authorize blood transfusions, which would prevent an earlier death due to blood loss.
Synopsis of Rule of Law. The guardian of a lifelong incompetent person may not withhold medical treatment in a belief that doing so is in the best interests of the incompetent person.
Even when the parents' decision to decline necessary treatment is based on constitutional grounds, such as religious beliefs, it must yield to the State's interests, as parens patriae, in protecting the health and welfare of the child.
View Full Point of LawIssue. May the guardian of a lifelong incompetent person withhold medical treatment in a belief that doing so is in the best interests of the incompetent person?
Held. (Wachtler, J.) No. The guardian of a lifelong incompetent person may not withhold medical treatment in a belief that doing so is in the best interests of the incompetent person. An incompetent person, same as an infant, cannot decide for himself whether he requires medical treatment. A parent cannot deprive a child of lifesaving treatment, no matter how well intentioned. So it is with the guardian of an incompetent; consent to lifesaving treatment may not be withheld. In this case, Storar is faced with the possibility of dying from blood loss, and his guardian may not withhold consent that he be treated. The fact that he will die from cancer within the foreseeable future does not change this analysis. Reversed.
Discussion. This case should be compared with Judge Wachtler’s opinion in In re Eichner, 420 N.E. 2d 64 (N.Y. 1981), a companion case to the present opinion. In that case, a guardian was allowed to withhold authorization for treatment. The difference was that Eichner at one point had been competent and had made his wishes known.