Tinslee Lewis, now 3 years old, has been fighting for her life since she was born. Tinslee was delivered prematurely at Cook Children’s Medical Hospital in Fort Worth in February 2019, where she remained on life support from birth. While Tinslee battled heart disease, Tinslee’s mother had to fight to ensure her daughter was allowed to keep fighting. Today, Tinslee is home with her family.
Tinslee was born with Ebstein’s anomaly, a rare and often terminal heart disease that requires significant intensive care.
On October 31, 2019, when Tinslee was about 6 months old, Cook Children’s Medical Hospital alerted her mother, Trinity Lewis, that they would be invoking the “10-day rule.”
The rule, called the Texas Advance Directives Act (TADA), allows hospitals to cease providing life-sustaining medical treatment after 10 days if they determine that the measures are “futile” and will not change the outcome of the patient’s condition.
Before the “10-day” law was enacted in 1999, hospitals could make this decision with very little notice. The rule did not remove hospitals’ ability to discontinue these patients’ care; rather, it introduced the requirements for the process, including that a patient’s family be given 10 days’ notice before treatment ceases. The time period allows families to arrange for transfer to another facility or seek an injunction with the court.
Doctors in favor of TADA, like Dr. Beverly B. Nuckols, argue that providing treatment when the patient’s condition is likely to remain unchanged is more harmful because it prolongs their suffering.
Nonetheless, in November 2019, Trinity decided to fight the hospital’s decision, obtaining a restraining order that prohibited the hospital from discontinuing Tinslee’s medical treatment. In December 2019, a local trial court ruled that Tinslee’s treatment would be allowed to end, but Trinity appealed the decision.
The Second Court of Appeals in Fort Worth then ruled in Trinity’s favor, saying the discontinuation of Tinslee’s medical treatment was a violation of her right to due process. The Texas Supreme Court would not rule in the case, so the Fort Worth appeals court ruling stood.
By January 2021, the case had gone to the United States Supreme Court. The hospital lost a month before Tinslee’s second birthday; the Supreme Court ruled the hospital must continue providing life-sustaining care.
Tinslee’s mother received substantial legal assistance and support from Texas Right to Life, a civic group primarily known for its anti-abortion stance.
The position taken by the group’s legal team was that doctors and administrators at Cook Children’s Medical Center had mischaracterized Tinslee’s state of health and her chances of survival.
According to court documents, the medical team reported that keeping Tinslee on life support had cost Texas Medicaid $24 million by May 2021. The hospital noted that Tinslee’s condition had improved to the point that she no longer required intubation and was able to spend several hours a day in a wheelchair.
When Tinslee was strong enough, Trinity was able to bring her home finally.
In the Facebook group “Tinslee Strong,” Trinity posted an update on Tinslee’s arrival home.
“I’m sorry, but [I] can’t hold it in any longer,” her April 7 post read. “[T]oday my baby came home and I’m filled with joy and emotions right now.”
Trinity shared that the journey had been “hard and stressful” but said Tinslee was doing well.