Judge Stops Hospital From Disconnecting Buffalo Man’s Ventilator

COON RAPIDS, Minn. (AP) — A man who has been suffering from a severe case of COVID-19 and was being kept alive by a ventilator has been moved from a Minnesota hospital to a Texas facility after a judge issued a restraining order stopping the hospital from turning off his machine.

Fifty-five-year-old Scott Quiner, of Buffalo, was a patient at Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids. He was flown to an unnamed facility in Texas over the weekend, the family’s attorney said.

“Scott is now in a hospital in Texas getting critical care,” said attorney Marjorie Holsten. “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.”

Allina Health, which operates Mercy Hospital, issued a statement saying it is grateful the family was able to find a health care facility that will meet their needs.

“We continue to wish them all the best,” the statement said.

Scott Quiner’s case drew widespread attention last week after Mercy Hospital said it would disconnect the ventilator on Thursday. Quiner, who was unvaccinated, had been in the hospital’s intensive care unit since Nov. 6 with critically low oxygen levels and had shown little signs of improvement since his arrival, the Star Tribune reported.

Quiner’s wife, Anne, went to court in Anoka County court seeking an emergency restraining order to prevent Mercy from disconnecting the ventilator. Without a judge’s decision, “my husband will die,” Anne wrote in her petition to the court.

Anoka County Judge Jennifer Stanfield ruled in favor of Anne Quiner’s request and had set a hearing to be held online Feb. 11.