New York Man Loses $100,000 Legal Battle Over Wife’s Life Support

A man whose request to have his wife removed from a feeding tube was turned down by a nursing home must pay the $100,000 bill for her care, the state’s highest court ruled Thursday.

The Court of Appeals ruling said the nursing home acted in good faith under New York state’s strict “right-to-die” law in keeping the woman alive.

Jean Elbaum, who has since died, was admitted to Grace Plaza on Long Island in 1986 after she had a stroke. She was comatose when she entered the nursing home, and her husband, Murray, agreed at the time to pay for her care, court papers said.

In October, 1987, Murray Elbaum told nursing home officials that his wife, who was being fed through a tube to her stomach, had previously expressed a desire to be removed from life support.

He asked that the tube be removed and said he would not pay the bill if it wasn’t. The nursing home refused and sued. He countersued in 1989 and won.

That same year, Jean Elbaum was transferred to another treatment center and the tube was removed. She died a short time later.

The high court said Grace Plaza acted properly in refusing to remove the tube since Jean Elbaum’s wishes were unclear.

The state’s “right-to-die” law requires relatives to present “clear and convincing” evidence of a patient’s wishes before life support is stopped. The only exception is for people with living wills or designated health care proxies.