WINDSOR, ON, Jan 21 (LifesiteNews) – The latest newsletter of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition of Ontario reports that the family of Florence LaDouceur has filed a lawsuit against the Villa Maria nursing home for attempting to starve and dehydrate their mother (Florence) who was 93 years old at the time. Mrs. LaDouceur lived at Villa Maria between October 26, 1998 and March 14, 1999. She did not have a terminal condition, she was capable of eating and drinking with normal assistance, and her daughter who had legal power of attorney for her personal care was not consulted in the decision to stop providing her with normal food and fluids.
Mrs. LaDoucer’s family removed her from the nursing home on March 14, bringing her, in a near death state, to Hotel Dieu/Grace Hospital where she was fed, re-hydrated and treated for pneumonia. After a week she was discharged from the hospital and moved into her home where she almost made a complete recovery.
Florence LaDouceur died last Friday but her family is continuing the lawsuit in her memory and to protect the lives of other vulnerable people dependent on institutional care. It was launched by the family in order to try to establish a legal precedent that it is wrong to injure or kill people through starvation or de-hydration and to redress the damages that had been done to Florence.