Scott Quiner’s family did everything to keep him alive in the face of COVID – except prevent it.
The reportedly unvaccinated 55-year-old died Saturday after a court battle during which his wife fought successfully to keep him from being unplugged from a ventilator in Minnesota, and then flew him to Texas for treatment in a Houston hospital.
The father of two adult children and a teen had contracted COVID for a second time in October, according to WCCO-TV, and by Thanksgiving was in Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, and intubated.
Earlier this month the hospital said they couldn’t do anything more for him and was going to turn off his ventilator on Jan. 12. Anne Quiner, his wife of 35 years, went to court.
“I have advised the doctors that I vehemently disagree with this action and do not want my husband’s ventilator turned off,” Anne Quiner stated in the court filing, obtained by KSTP-TV.
Judge Jennifer Stanfield agreed, ordering Mercy Hospital to keep the ventilator on, with a hearing set for Feb. 11.
Anne Quiner then had her husband flown to Texas, where hospital officials in Houston told the family’s attorney they found him “severely malnourished,” KSTP reported.
“He lost 30 pounds while on the ventilator,” the attorney, Marjorie Holsten, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “That should be proof enough he was not getting adequate nutrition.”
Weight loss is a common and known side effect of long-term intubation, according to the medical literature.
“We’re absolutely devastated,” Holsten told the Star Tribune on Saturday. “On behalf of the Quiner family, I would like to thank the public for their outpouring of love and support during this difficult ordeal. We ask for privacy for Anne and the children as they grieve the loss of Scott, a wonderful husband and father.”
Allina Health, which owns and operates Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids, Minn., expressed its “great confidence in the exceptional care provided to our patients, which is administered according to evidence-based practices by our talented and compassionate medical teams,” according to a statement obtained by WCCO. “Due to patient privacy, we cannot comment on care provided to specific patients.”
“We are saddened to hear about the passing of Scott Quiner, and our deepest condolences go out to family, friends and loved ones,” Allina Health said in a statement obtained by KMSP-TV. “His passing marks yet another very sad moment as collectively we continue to face the devastating effects of the pandemic.”
