Home > West's Encyclopedia of American Law > Quinlan, in Re

In Re Quinlan, 70 N.J. 10, 355 A.2d 647 (1976), was the first major judicial decision to hold that life-sustaining medical treatments may be discontinued in appropriate circumstances, even if the patient is unable or incompetent to make the decision. The New Jersey Supreme Court's decision has been followed by nearly every state appellate court to consider the issue. In addition to establishing a patient's right to refuse life-sustaining medical treatments, the Quinlan decision also made clear that a decision to remove or withhold life support systems from an incompetent patient would not constitute HOMICIDE or MEDICAL MALPRACTICE.

In 1975, Karen Ann Quinlan, age twenty-two, stopped breathing and lapsed into a coma. Quinlan's treating physicians determined that in addition...