***I have a full website under construction for those interested in following the very important Michael Hickson Story, which will soon be heard by the Fifth Circuit of Appeals. Check back here for details, or periodically check at MichaelHickson.org to see if I have the site up.***.
Michael Hickson was a 46-year-old Black man, a husband, and father of five who became an emblematic figure in the debate over disability rights and medical ethics in the United States. In June 2020, Hickson died of COVID-19 after doctors at St. David’s South Austin Medical Center in Austin, Texas, decided to end his active treatment and moved him from intensive care to hospice care1237.
Hickson became quadriplegic and blind in 2017 after suffering cardiac arrest, which deprived his brain of oxygen and left him with significant disabilities14. Despite these challenges, he remained actively involved with his family, often appearing in videos shared by his wife Melissa, singing to his children and participating in family life1.
The events leading to his death are the subject of deep controversy and national scrutiny. After contracting COVID-19, Hickson was admitted to St. David’s hospital. Although his wife Melissa wanted aggressive treatment, the hospital—along with his court-appointed guardian at the time, Family Eldercare—opted to transition him to hospice care, citing his deteriorating condition, including sepsis and multi-organ failure13. Melissa strongly objected, arguing that he was denied treatment because of ableist assumptions by medical staff about his “quality of life,” a claim highlighted by an audio recording she posted in which a physician stated, “as of right now, his quality of life—he doesn’t have much of one,” in direct response to Melissa’s question about whether her husband’s disabilities influenced care decisions1457.
According to the hospital, the decision was based on medical judgment that continuing invasive treatment would be futile and cruel, not on disability status1. However, disability rights advocates argue that his case underscores the systemic devaluation of disabled lives, especially amidst crisis standards of care and pandemic conditions567.
Melissa Hickson’s public advocacy and release of the disputed recording spurred investigations by disability rights groups, national attention, and complaints to federal civil rights offices14. His death became symbolic for both the #BlackDisabledLivesMatter movement and broader calls for healthcare justice and reform, as many in the disability rights community saw his fate as the realization of their worst fears about discriminatory medical practices257.
Michael Hickson’s case is widely seen as a call to re-examine how disability and perceived “quality of life” are weighed in critical care decisions, especially in times of social and medical crisis1247.
https://www.npr.org/2020/07/31/896882268/one-mans-covid-19-death-raises-the-worst-fears-of-many-people-with-disabilities
https://www.accessliving.org/newsroom/blog/michael-hickson-and-blackdisabledlivesmatter/
https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/texas-hospital-ends-mans-covid-19-treatment-due-to-his-disability/
https://www.rehumanizeintl.org/post/michael-hickson
https://disasterstrategies.org/michael-hickson-statement/
https://abolitionjournal.org/on-michael-hickson-and-the-washington-posts-erasure-of-disability-from-racial-justice/
https://www.theregreview.org/2021/11/01/wilson-crisis-standards-of-care-may-discriminate-against-patients-with-disabilities/
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