http://news.yahoo.com/s/ct/20070227/cr_ct/...TYk5Lns9ZJvzwcF

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (Court TV) - Did doctors resuscitate 92-year-old Madeline Neumann against her wishes, or did they perform life-saving treatment after she was found unconscious at a nursing home in October 1995?

That was the question lawyers addressed during opening statements Monday in a civil trial that will decide whether Neumann's living will and advance directive were violated.

Neumann suffered from seizure syndrome and Alzheimer's disease. When nurses at the Morse Geriatric Center found her unresponsive on Oct. 17, 1995, paramedics rushed her to the hospital.

On the way, they inserted a breathing tube and tied her hands down with restraints. Doctors removed the tube the next day, but Neumann was kept on a life-support machine.

The machines were disconnected six days later, and Neumann was allowed to die.

Attorney Marnie Poncy, who represents Neumann's estate and filed the suit against the Morse Geriatric Center and Dr. Jaimy Bensimon, told the jury that the doctor broke the Hippocratic Oath - the tenet that all certified physicians are bound to keep.

"The first principle of that oath is, above all, 'Do no harm,' and this case is about the violation of that oath," Poncy said.

Poncy said Bensimon and the nursing home trampled over Neumann's wish that she avoid a painful death like those she watched her husband and two daughters suffer as a result of cancer.

"Madeline knew exactly what death she did not want - not only for herself, but she wanted to leave a legacy of peaceful, gentle, and natural death for her granddaughters," Poncy said.

Neumann and her granddaughter, Linda Scheible, drafted a living will and an advance directive, which both clearly state that if found unresponsive, Neumann didn't want to be kep t alive by resuscitation and other life-support machinery.

Poncy said her wishes were ignored - and resulted in six days of painful, invasive procedures.

She said that aside from the unlawful insertion of a breathing tube and use of life support machines, the treatment included needle-poking, being bound in four-point restraints and having medicine inserted rectally.

Morse Geriatric Center's attorney, Rachel Studley, told the jury the suit was wrongly labeled.

"This case is not about resuscitation," she said. "This is a case about treatment, about appropriate treatment."

Studley said a close reading of the living will and advance directives will show that all of the grandmother's desires were only to be followed if she had a terminal condition - and no known treatment could bring her back to her normal state.

"No one during her entire admission said that she was terminal," Studley said.

She told jurors Neumann also included language in both documents that stated antibiotics should be administered if she were found unresponsive.

Studley said nurses discovered her unresponsive and with unstable vital signs, but she was still breathing. They called Bensimon at his home about 30 minutes away.

"[Bensimon] is not sure on the phone if her condition is or isn't irreversible, and the plaintiff expects him to diagnose her over the phone," Studley said.

Studley said Bensimon directed the nurses to call 911, so paramedics could determine if her condition was "something that can be treated."

After arriving at the emergency room, doctors intubated Neumann to prevent the grandmother - who had lost her gag reflex - from coughing up food and choking to death, Studley said.

"This is not about erring on the side of life to prevent a lawsuit," Studley said. "You do it because it's the right thing to do. You err on the side of life because you don't know what the cause is."

Studley said Neumann was treated appropriately at the nursing h ome and in the hospital where she continued to live without the breathing tube for those last few days.

"She died with her family surrounding her providing her with love and she died in peace," Studley told the panel.

Bensimon's attorney, Jim Nosich, said the jury will see that this case is nothing more than a wrongly filed medical malpractice suit.

"This is not the case of Terri Schiavo or a battle between family members who say, 'Let her live,' or 'Don't let her live,'" Nosich said. "The question is: Did Dr. Bensimon cause any pain or suffering? The answer is clearly no."

The trial is expected to continue Tuesday and is being streamed live on Court TV Extra.