A frightening incident took place this week in a large Tri-State region hospital, where a critically-ill patient was about to have his life support removed against the family’s wishes. The dreadful outcome was prevented only through a burst of last-minute intervention by Chayim Aruchim’s expert halachic advisor Rabbi Naftali Katz of Lakewood and noted Flatbush attorney Michael Korsinsky.
When a family member frantically contacted Rabbi Naftali Katz for emergency guidance late in the evening, he reached out to Mr. Korsinsky — a founding partner at Korsinsky & Klein, LLP, and the legal counsel for Chayim Aruchim — who immediately began rapid-fire negotiations with the hospital and attending physicians.
Mr. Korsinsky’s familiarity with Elder Law and Health Law jurisprudence helped persuade the hospital’s legal team that deescalating care was in violation of the law. He also was able to get the physicians to recognize how they were obligated to consider the religious beliefs that held the patient was considered alive. Ultimately, the hospital agreed to continue providing life support, and the patient is being transferred to a local nursing home facility where he will be surrounded by loving family and friends.
“Chayim Aruchim was founded to protect the religious rights of critically ill Jewish patients and provides end-of-life halachic guidance,” says Chayim Aruchim president Rabbi Shmuel Lefkowitz. “Our mission is to compassionately guide and forcefully advocate on behalf of patients’ families when the medical team wants to give up hope. Even when a doctor says that a situation is hopeless, it is our job to push ahead and, when necessary, invoke the constitutional and legal rights of religious freedom to get proper care.”
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PSA: If you are dealing with a medically fragile or elderly family member, or have a loved one in the hospital receiving end-of-life care, reach out to Chayim Aruchim’s 24-hour phone hotline to stay informed about what steps you should take to preserve life. Chayim Aruchim can be reached by calling 718-ARUCHIM (718-278-2446) or by visiting www.chayimaruchim.com.
My family knows just how important chayim aruchim is. When my uncle was sick in the hospital with cancer and the doctors were pushing us to sign a DNR, we called chayim aruchim and they quickly got him transferred to another hospital that would give him better care. This gave my uncle another 8 months of life, and allowed him to be able to walk his youngest child down the chupa.
Euthanasia is now legal in NJ, a bill was signed by the guy we were told to reelect.
Euthanasia is only legal in NJ at the request of the patient. Doctors cant just decide on their own to euthanize you.
The guy that you wanted to elect was one of two republicans to support the euthanasia bill…
Please name the hospital. What kind of half-baked reporting is this?
To the guy asking about naming the hospital. The dumbest thing to do would be to publicize the hospital name, because that would jeopardize the relationship that the askunim are building with them, being that they managed to get the hospital on their side. The hospital doesn’t want to get a black eye, and there’s no point in rubbing their nose in it, but the story should be known because the next time somebody has family in the hospital, they should be aware that some doctors actually hold of euthanasia. So they didn’t publicize the hospital name for obvious reasons. This is politics 101 my friend. It’s called quiet diplomacy and it happens from everywhere from Washington to Lakewood.