Los Angeles Times
By Nardine Saad
A judge upheld Casey Kasem’s health directive to stop the radio legend’s nutrition and hydration during an ex parte hearing held Wednesday in Los Angeles.
The move by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Daniel S. Murphy reverses a decision he’d handed down Monday ordering the continued feeding and hydration of the 82-year-old, at the request of his wife, while he’s in hospice care in Washington state. Jean Kasem, married to Casey since 1980, has been feuding with the radio icon’s three children by his first wife.
Murphy also decided that Kerri Kasem would remain her father’s temporary conservator.
“We’re really deeply disturbed by the court’s ruling today,” Jean Kasem’s attorney Steven Haney told The Times over the phone. “It’s just wrong. Jean Kasem is broken-hearted.”
Haney said that his client is still in Los Angeles and that the family’s invitation for her to come back to Washington is “all show.”
“She doesn’t want to go up there and be a part of what they’re doing,” he said. “When I left her she was crying pretty significantly.”
Doctors said that “continuation of artificial nutrition and hyrdation is not in the patient’s best interests because it will at best prolong the dying process for him and will certainly add suffering to an already terribly uncomfortable dying process,” according to documents filed by Kerri Kasem’s attorney, Troy L. Martin.
The onetime “Top 40” host suffers from Lewy body dementia as well as bed sores.
Rose Law Group Estate Planning Attorney Laura Bianchi adds, “It’s heartbreaking to see situations like this unfold. No one wins and the care of the incapacitated individual is most in jeopardy when loved ones are feuding. It’s yet another reason to ensure you have a complete and effective estate plan in place that addresses incapacitation, guardianship, decision making etc. Having this in place will ensure your personal wishes are followed and it also goes a long way to prevent in-family fighting, such as we see in this situation.”
To further discuss estate planning and asset protection, Laura Bianchi can be reached at lbianchi@roselawgroup.com
