The state’s 2nd District Court of Appeal...

The state’s 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled unanimously in favor of a patient who asked to be disconnected from life-support systems at Glendale Adventist Medical Center, an attorney for the patient said. The court denied a petition from the hospital to reopen the case of William F. Bartling, a 70-year-old dental supply salesman who suffered from five potentially fatal diseases. He died Nov. 6, still on his respirator, a day before his appeal was argued before the court. Stating that the “right of a competent adult patient to refuse medical treatment is a constitutionally guaranteed right,” the appeals court ruled that Bartling should have been allowed to order doctors to remove him from a respirator.