Docs To End Patient's Life Support Against Family

BOSTON -- Massachusetts General Hospital officials agreed on Tuesday to wait for the outcome of an 11th-hour petition before removing a ventilator from a woman suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease.

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David Boeri Reports On Battle RESOURCES Who Decides When To End Life Support? Statement From Hospital

NewsCenter 5's David Boeri reported that 79-year-old Barbara Howe could not breath without a ventilator. She has been living on life-support at the hospital since 1999.

In 1998, she named her daughter health care proxy. She wants her mother to live.

"She has a glow to her face, and therefore, I know she is aware that I am there," Carol Howe said.

Last year, a probate judge upheld Carol Howe's right to make all health care decisions for her mother. This month, the chief medical officer at the hospital ordered the ventilation to be shut off, saying it was harmful.

"What I don't understand is why the general would have this stance, unless they really, really believe that this is harming her and not in her best interest and they are doing what they consider to be the right thing independent of what the press is going to say or what the family is going to say," Boston University's Dr. Michael Grodin said.

With the order to remove life-support scheduled to go into effect Wednesday, Carol Howe's lawyer petitioned the probate court.

"Carol pays special attention to whether her mother is in pain. She factors this into her assessment of what would be in her mother's best interest. Carol believes that it is in Barbara's best interest to continue living at this time," the lawyer said.

"It's a dangerous precedent. Although if it were true, you should disqualify the proxy and do it. I think people are concerned enough as it is with the proxy," Grodin said.

"We believe that she is suffering significantly and needlessly. It is not our goal to end Mrs. Howe's life, but rather to cease care that is harmful and, indeed, inhumane," the hospital said in a statement.