Jesse Koochin
Encyclopedia
Jesse Koochin was a 6-year-old boy from Utah
who became the center of a legal battle between his parents, Steve and Gayle Koochin, and Primary Children's Medical Center
in Salt Lake City.
Jesse was diagnosed with an “inoperable and incurable” brain tumor in 2004. He had been undergoing care at Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City since September 15, 2004 when “his tumor pushed his brain stem down through the skull.” Subsequently, two physicians independently determined that the child was “brain dead” and informed his parents that they would order life support removed within twenty-four hours. However, the parents rejected the hospital’s definition of death. Instead, relying on traditional notions of cardiopulmonary death, they obtained a restraining order to keep Jesse on a ventilator. Later, they removed the brain-dead child from the hospital. Jesse's heart ultimately stopped beating on November 19, 2004.
The landmark case was the first documented instance in the United States in which parents attempted to opt-out of legally accepted standards of death.
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
who became the center of a legal battle between his parents, Steve and Gayle Koochin, and Primary Children's Medical Center
Primary Children's Medical Center
Primary Children's Medical Center is a 252-bed children's hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is owned by Intermountain Healthcare and operates in affiliation with the University of Utah...
in Salt Lake City.
Jesse was diagnosed with an “inoperable and incurable” brain tumor in 2004. He had been undergoing care at Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City since September 15, 2004 when “his tumor pushed his brain stem down through the skull.” Subsequently, two physicians independently determined that the child was “brain dead” and informed his parents that they would order life support removed within twenty-four hours. However, the parents rejected the hospital’s definition of death. Instead, relying on traditional notions of cardiopulmonary death, they obtained a restraining order to keep Jesse on a ventilator. Later, they removed the brain-dead child from the hospital. Jesse's heart ultimately stopped beating on November 19, 2004.
The landmark case was the first documented instance in the United States in which parents attempted to opt-out of legally accepted standards of death.