Paralyzed Inmate in Right-to-Die Case Succumbs

A quadriplegic prison inmate who recently won a novel right-to-die case before the California Supreme Court--then decided he wanted to live--has died at a Riverside hospital, it was learned Monday.

Howard Andrews, 30, was taken from the California Institution for Men at Chino to Riverside General Hospital because of complications with a catheter, prison spokesman Lt. Kevin Peters said. He said Andrews died of septic shock Sunday morning.

Andrews became paralyzed from the neck down after plunging from a third-tier cell in Folsom Prison in May, 1991. He later refused food and medication intermittently at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville.

A prison doctor sought a court order allowing him to force-feed Andrews. On July 26, the day before he was transferred to Chino, the California Supreme Court ruled in his case, holding that a mentally competent adult has a fundamental right to refuse life-saving assistance.

But by then, Andrews had begun accepting medical assistance and apparently only wanted control over his medical treatment.

Prison officials said the inmate’s death was not a suicide. Peters said a new catheter had been inserted at the prison but Andrews was unable to pass urine. When the catheter was removed, prison doctors discovered that he was bleeding and sent him to the hospital.

Alex Martinez, whose brother is a quadriplegic also confined at Chino, blamed Andrews’ death on incompetent prison medical care. He said his brother and Andrews had become friends, and Andrews “definitely” wanted to live. According to Martinez, his brother blamed Andrews’ death on the removal of the catheter by prison staff.

Steven Fama, Andrews’ former attorney, said he last spoke to Andrews about four weeks ago and his mood was good.

“There was absolutely no indication that he was going to refuse treatment, at least that is what he expressed to me,” Fama said. “I have a great deal of concern about the circumstances of his death.”