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# Comfort-measures status without consent - Haygood Health

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### [Comfort-measures status without consent](/c/comfort-measures-consent)

MechanismN/AOutcomeD

Claimed

Patients were moved to comfort-measures-only status without the consent of the patient or their decision maker.

What holds up

This is a documented-practice claim about whether an event occurred, not a biological mechanism claim, so the mechanism axis does not apply (per the brief). Florida law (Chapter 765) requires health care decisions for incapacitated patients to run through a surrogate, attorney-in-fact, proxy, or guardian under substituted judgment, and a University of Miami/FSU handbook on Florida law states that withholding or withdrawing life-prolonging procedures requires the patient's prior written consent or a court order (citing sections 765.107 and 765.113). The Schara case (Outagamie County, Wisconsin, Case 2023CV000345) documents a family's allegation that a DNR order was placed without consent alongside disputed sedation, and it went to a full jury trial.

What it does not show

The documented record consists of individual cases and allegations rather than any systematic data, with the single fully litigated case resulting in a defense verdict. A pattern of hospitals moving COVID patients to comfort-measures-only without consent. The Schara jury found for the hospital, doctor, and nurse on June 19, 2025 (no negligence, no wrongful death, no informed-consent violation), with a later bid for a new trial denied. No Florida medical-board licensing actions or state health-department complaints on this specific practice surfaced in open sources, and testimony collections (e.g., several hundred family accounts) are allegations, not adjudicated findings.

Evidence for

American Bar Association / Florida State University, "Making Medical Decisions for Someone Else: A Florida Handbook," 2011, bioethics.miami.edu PDF, WTAQ-WLUK/WNCY news report, June 19, 2025 (Schara defense verdict, Outagamie County Courthouse), Florida Statutes sections 765.202, 765.205, 765.401, 766.103 (flsenate.gov fetch timed out), Outagamie County Circuit Court, Case 2023CV000345, plaintiff's motion for new trial, Stanford Hospital "comfort care" settlement, 2005, paloaltoonline.com (pre-COVID, different facts)

Sources

VERIFIED American Bar Association / Florida State University, "Making Medical Decisions for Someone Else: A Florida Handbook," 2011, bioethics.miami.edu PDF. VERIFIED WTAQ-WLUK/WNCY news report, June 19, 2025 (Schara defense verdict, Outagamie County Courthouse). PENDING Florida Statutes sections 765.202, 765.205, 765.401, 766.103 (flsenate.gov fetch timed out). PENDING Outagamie County Circuit Court, Case 2023CV000345, plaintiff's motion for new trial. PENDING Stanford Hospital "comfort care" settlement, 2005, paloaltoonline.com (pre-COVID, different facts).

## Grade history (append-only)

Every grade change is kept, never overwritten, so the current grade and every prior one stay visible.

Mechanism gradeJustificationGraded byStateGraded at

N/AThis is a documented-practice claim about whether an event occurred, not a biological mechanism claim, so the mechanism axis does not apply (per the brief). Florida law (Chapter 765) requires health care decisions for incapacitated patients to run through a surrogate, attorney-in-fact, proxy, or guardian under substituted judgment, and a University of Miami/FSU handbook on Florida law states that withholding or withdrawing life-prolonging procedures requires the patient's prior written consent or a court order (citing sections 765.107 and 765.113). The Schara case (Outagamie County, Wisconsin, Case 2023CV000345) documents a family's allegation that a DNR order was placed without consent alongside disputed sedation, and it went to a full jury trial.admindisplayed2026-10-08T23:52:30.455Z

Outcome gradeJustificationGraded byStateGraded at

DThe documented record consists of individual cases and allegations rather than any systematic data, with the single fully litigated case resulting in a defense verdict. A pattern of hospitals moving COVID patients to comfort-measures-only without consent. The Schara jury found for the hospital, doctor, and nurse on June 19, 2025 (no negligence, no wrongful death, no informed-consent violation), with a later bid for a new trial denied. No Florida medical-board licensing actions or state health-department complaints on this specific practice surfaced in open sources, and testimony collections (e.g., several hundred family accounts) are allegations, not adjudicated findings.admindisplayed2026-10-08T23:52:30.456Z

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