WHO ARE THE COLORADO PLAINTIFFS?
Organizational Plaintiffs
ORGANIZATIONAL Representatives
Ian McIntosh
Not Dead Yet
Dawn Russell
Atlantis ADAPT
Steve Lieberman
United Spinal
Matt Vallière
Institute for Patients Rights
Individual Plaintiffs
Mary Gossman
WHO ARE THE LAWYERS?
Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP
Michael Bien
Ernest Galvan
Van Swearingen
Kara Janssen
Ian Speir
Media Requests
Click below for our media spokespersons and contact information.
PERSONAL STORIES
Jane’s Story
At 28 years old, Jane woke from a morphine induced stupor in an in-patient hospice setting with a DNR on file and lethal drugs at her disposal, all facilitated by the anorexia specialist doctor who was supposed to be helping her live. Her dad petitioned the state of Colorado for guardianship, which he received and had the drugs destroyed. She gained resolve, got good mental healthcare, back up to healthy body weight, got a job, bought a house and a puppy, started dating again, and was fostering teenage moms and their babies until they aged out of the system. She was a miracle. And then she died suddenly of complications to her health caused by a decade of starving herself. What if that excuse for a doctor was actually doing her job and helping Jane to live rather than helping her die by suicide when she wasn’t even capable of making rational decisions with her brain on starvation? Would she still have had this bad of after effects if she had recovered sooner? We’ll never know…
Legal Documents
Reply to Dismissal Recommendation
After we filed our lawsuit, a magistrate judge (federal judge who helps manage cases in U.S. district courts and handles a lot of the groundwork, but do not make the final decision) offered a recommendation. In this, we, the plaintiffs, are asking the court to reject the recommendation to dismiss our lawsuit against Colorado’s assisted suicide law. We argue the law discriminates against people with disabilities by treating them differently and making it easier for them to access life ending drugs instead of receiving suicide prevention care. The magistrate judge said we weren’t sufficiently harmed to sue, but our response is that people are already experiencing discrimination and face a real risk of harm. We also say the law forces their organizations to spend extra resources helping affected members. We want the case to move forward or at least be allowed to revise our complaint.