The Queen’s Medical Center is now willing to release a 95-year-old, debilitated woman — with her feeding tube in place — after a circuit judge indicated last week that he’s unlikely to rule on whether to remove Karen Okada’s feeding tube until late October.
Okada’s brother, former Honolulu City Council Chairman George "Scotty" Koga, who has power of attorney for his sister, can take Okada out of the medical center as long as he signs documents that he is knowingly acting against medical advice.
Attorney William Hunt, who is representing Queen’s, said, "There’s nothing to prevent the family from signing her out against medical advice. Queen’s is willing to leave the feeding tube in, and they’re willing to discharge her against medical advice."
Queen’s had petitioned Circuit Judge Patrick Border to order Okada’s feeding tube to be removed — over her family’s wishes — to comply with an advanced health care directive she signed in 1998.
Koga’s attorney, Scott Makuakane, said the family had not been presented with the documents late Monday to take Okada out of Queen’s.
The family also was having difficulty finding a nursing facility to receive Okada after the Star-Advertiser first reported on her court case last week.
"The facilities have gotten spooked," Makuakane said.
Even though Okada’s family was having difficulty Monday finding a facility for Okada, "We’re very happy about it," said Okada’s sister-in-law, Ruth Koga. "It’s what we wanted."
On Friday, Border held a hearing to decide which of Okada’s 1998 written wishes should be followed: the power of attorney that she granted to her brother, or Okada’s advanced health care directive, which states that she does not want her "‘dying’ be artifically prolonged … and that her instructions ‘shall prevail even if they create a conflict with the desires of my relatives, hospital policies, or the principles of those providing (her) care.’"
Border indicated Friday that he was struggling to find precedence to help guide any ruling he might make, which he said might not happen until late October.
Attorney Hunt characterized Koga’s 1998 documents Monday as "pretty contradictory," adding, "There’s not a lot of law about what you do with a conflict in documents."
Hunt said attorneys have been "looking all over" for rulings in similar situations in Hawaii and across the mainland.
"We’re not aware of anything," he said.
Okada had suffered a series of medical problems, including a fall that left her with a brain injury, followed by a stroke last year and a more recent bout of pneumonia that sent her from the Hale Nani nursing home to Queen’s on Aug. 8.
At Friday’s hearing, two Queen’s doctors testified that they believe "beyond a reasonable doubt" that Okada will not recover.
Queen’s Dr. Bradley Willcox testified that Okada is in "a persistent vegetative state," and removing her feeding tube would allow her to die "a natural death" in two to three weeks.
