Robert Wendland Dies of Pneumonia; Court Rejects Wife's Euthanasia Request.(Brief Article)

Robert Wendland, the disabled California man at the center of a court case that had the potential to widen the threat of involuntary euthanasia, died July 17 of pneumonia, according to the Los Angeles Times.

After his death, the California Supreme Court ruled that his wife did not have the right to order the removal of his feeding tube, since Wendland was not in a coma or terminally ill and had not left instructions that he would want to die if incapacitated, the Times reported.

Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar, in the court's unanimous August 9 decision, wrote that life support for a patient in Wendland's condition may not be stopped "absent clear and convincing evidence that the conservator's decision is in accordance with either the conservatee's own wishes or best interest."

"The decision to treat is reversible," Werdegar wrote. "The decision to withdraw treatment is not."

"It is going to save a lot of lives," Janie Hickock Siess, attorney for Robert Wendland's mother Florence, told the Times. "I just wish Robert were here for this."

Siess was in tears after learning Wendland had died, according to the Times. At the time of his death, she was working on a petition to the California Supreme Court to demand information about his medical condition and to have another doctor examine him. "I was filing papers with the court, but I wasn't fast enough," she told the Times.

Siess also told the newspaper that Florence Wendland would seek the release of her son's medical records and an autopsy to determine his exact cause of death. Robert Wendland's wife told reporters that she would oppose an autopsy, according to the Times.