Minnesota COVID-19 patient flown to Texas after judge orders doctors to keep him on ventilator

A Minnesota COVID-19 patient was flown to a medical facility in Texas over the weekend after a judge ordered doctors to keep him on a ventilator, the Star Tribune reported. 

Scott Quiner, 55, was placed on a ventilator at Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids on Nov. 6 while experiencing critically low oxygen levels and has shown few signs of improvement in the ensuing weeks, according to the Star-Tribune. 

The hospital informed Quiner’s family that it would disconnect the ventilator on Thursday, prompting his wife, Anne, to seek an emergency order from the Anoka County court to stop the disconnection and move her husband to a new facility. 

Judge Jennifer Stanfield ruled in favor of the Quiner family’s request to keep him on a ventilator. 

Scott Quiner’s attorney, Marjorie Holsten, told the Star Tribune her client was flown over the weekend from Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids to a medical facility in Texas, which she did not name.  

“Scott is now in a hospital in Texas getting critical care,” Holsten said. “The doctor said Scott was the most undernourished patient he has ever seen. The last update I got was yesterday afternoon after some tests had been run; all organs are working except his lungs.”

Quiner was unvaccinated against the coronavirus prior to being hospitalized. 

An online hearing in Quiner’s case is scheduled for Feb. 11, the Star-Tribune noted.