Grace Plaza Of Great Neck, Inc. v. Elbau

623 N.E.2d 513 (N.Y. 1993)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

On September 19, 1986, Grace Plaza of Great Neck (P) admitted Jean Elbaum as a patient. She was in a persistent vegetative state and had to be fed through a gastrostomy tube. In October of 1987, her husband, (H) advised P by letter that it was his wife's wish that she be allowed to die naturally should she fall into an 'irreversible vegetative state,' and he instructed the nursing home to remove Mrs. Elbaum's feeding tube. Upon admission, H had signed an agreement undertaking responsibility for his wife's car, but when P declined to remove the feeding tube, he refused to pay for further treatment. P sued to recover payment for services rendered to Mrs. Elbaum after October 1987. Supreme Court granted defendant summary judgment, but the Appellate Division reversed. In March 1989, while the present action was on appeal, the Supreme Court determined, in a separate action instituted by H, that there was insufficient evidence that Mrs. Elbaum wanted the feeding tube removed. On August 2, 198, that determination was reversed by the Appellate Division. She was discharged from Grace Plaza and died shortly, thereafter. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of H in the present action on the basis of that decision sustaining Mrs. Elbaum's wishes to forego further treatment. H contends he is not liable because P breached the admission agreement. P contends that Mrs. Elbaum was unable to state her wishes, that defendant did not present any documentary evidence indicating his wife's intentions and that he could not make the decision to discontinue life support systems for her. P asserts that until the courts finally declared what Mrs. Elbaum's wishes were, it could not know that she did not desire continued nutrition and hydration.