Barbara Morris, MD, filed the suit in August with Neil Mahoney, a patient diagnosed with an incurable form of stage 4 cancer. Mr. Mahoney asked Dr. Morris for help, telling her he wanted to die.
Colorado legislation allows physicians to aid in patients’ death, granting hospitals the option to participate. Centura Health declined to offer aid-in-dying services based on the system’s “Christian beliefs to promote and defend the sacredness of every human life,” according to an online statement cited by Denver7.
Dr. Morris and Mr. Mahoney filed the suit lawsuit to determine if the health system’s policy was legal, and Dr. Morris said she was fired a few days afterward.
Though the physician never prescribed anything, Centura Health says Dr. Morris was fired because she “publicly disavowed the beliefs and values of her employer and has asked a court to force Centura Health to allow her to participate in aid-in-dying.”
Dr. Morris’ attorneys altered the lawsuit against the health system this week, claiming the physician was wrongfully terminated. Mr. Mahoney is no longer involved in the lawsuit, according to The Denver Post.
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