In the Matter of John Storar. Charles S. Soper, as Director of Newark Developmental Center, Appellants Dorothy…

Summary

The New York Court of Appeals held that a competent adult's common‑law right to refuse life‑sustaining treatment may be enforced when clear and convincing evidence of the patient’s prior wishes exists, and it reversed the Appellate Division’s order in the Storar case, allowing continuation of blood transfusions for an incompetent, profoundly retarded patient with terminal cancer. A dissent argued that the court should not have addressed the moot cases and that the majority’s approach was improper.