COVID-19 patient whose wife sued hospital to keep him on ventilator dies

A Minnesota man whose wife sued a local hospital to make sure he was kept on a ventilator for months after being diagnosed with COVID-19 died at the age of 55. 

The family’s attorney Marjorie Holsten confirmed to The Washington Post that Scott Quiner died Saturday at the Houston-area hospital where he was flown for care during the legal battle. 

“On behalf of the family of Scott Quiner, I would like to thank the public for the outpouring of love and support during this difficult time,” Holsten said in an emailed statement. “The family now requests privacy while they grieve the loss of their beloved husband and father.”

Holsten also said that Quiner remained on a ventilator at the time of his death but declined to identify the ​​facility where he passed away or other details about his death, according to the Post. 

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

That decision came after Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids, Minn., informed Quiner’s family that it would disconnect  his ventilator after he experiencing critically low oxygen levels and showed few signs of improvement over the course of weeks. 

His wife, Anne, then sought an emergency order from the Anoka County court to stop the disconnection and move her husband to a new facility. 

In a statement, Allina Health, the health system that operates Mercy Hospital, defended the hospital’s treatment of Quiner, who was unvaccinated against the novel coronavirus, the Post noted. 

“Allina Health will vigorously defend the exceptional, evidence-based care provided to our patients by our talented and compassionate medical teams,” the system said in a statement. “Our deepest condolences go out to his family, friends and loved ones.”

“His passing marks yet another very sad moment as collectively we continue to face the devastating effects of the pandemic,” the statement added.