NORWALK — Doctors at Fisher-Titus Medical Center routinely alter patients’ Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) status without meeting with them first, substituting hospital habit for state law, according to sworn court testimony in a recently concluded civil trial.
When an elderly patient signs a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order, Ohio law establishes a clear, strict boundary: only the patient—or their legally designated surrogate—can authorize changes to how aggressively doctors treat them near the end of life. A physician must meet directly with the patient to go over any change in status.
But according to sworn courtroom testimony in a recently concluded civil trial, physicians at Fisher-Titus Medical Center have routinely bypassed legal requirements and routinely alter patient DNR orders based on nurse phone calls or institutional habit rather than direct patient consultation.
“People go to the hospital thinking that they have DNRs will be upheld,” plaintiff’s attorney Charlie Murray told StayTunedSandusky.com. “But doctors change it, they consult with family and the DNR gets altered. The doctors never should have talked with family. They should not ask a family to change a DNR status because the family does not have the right to change it; only the patient has that right.”
