Blick v. Connecticut

While courts have addressed constitutional questions connected with aid in dying, no court has directly considered whether a mentally competent, terminally ill patient’s desire to bring about a peaceful death should be considered “suicide.”

Norwalk infectious disease specialist Dr. Gary Blick and Greenwich primary care internist Dr. Ron Levine, the plaintiffs in Blick, asserted that the choice of a mentally competent, terminally ill patient for a peaceful death is not ‘suicide’ and therefore a physician providing such a patient with a prescription for medication the patient can ingest to achieve a peaceful death is not subject to the law. The Montana Supreme Court decided a similar case, Baxter v. Montana, in physicians’ and patients’ favor.

Dr. Blick is the Medical and Research Director of CIRCLE Medical, LLC in Norwalk, Ct. His specialty is in infectious disease and treatment of HIV/AIDS. Dr. Blick was a Resident at Yale University School of Medicine and Greenwich Hospital in Greenwich, CT. He was both an attending and consulting physician at Greenwich Hospital and was the Founder and Chairman of the Greenwich Hospital AIDS Task Force.

Dr. Levine is a primary care internist in Greenwich. He served his internship and residency at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center in New York. Dr. Levine is both an Attending Physician and a Clinical Instructor at Greenwich Hospital in Connecticut. He is also a Clinical Instructor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center in New York.

The physician plaintiffs were represented by Compassion & Choices Legal Director Kathryn Tucker, Connecticut appellate specialist Dan Krisch and noted Connecticut civil-rights attorney Jamie L. Mills.

The case was dismissed on June 2, 2010 by Judge Julia Aurigemma on sovereign immunity grounds. No ruling was ever reached on the merits of the case.

Listen to Audio: October 7, 2009 Blick v. Connecticut Press Conference here.

Read the Blick v. Connecticut complaint here.

Read Blick V. Connecticut Plaintiffs Memo of Law in Opposition to Motion to Dismiss (PDF)

Read Blick V. Connecticut Plaintiffs Objection to Motion to Intervene by OPA (PDF)

Read Blick V. Connecticut State of Connecticut Motion to Dismiss (PDF)

Read Blick V. Connecticut Memo in Support of Motion to Dismiss (PDF)

Read Blick V. Connecticut Opposition to Motion To Intervene by the Connecticut Catholic Conference (PDF)

Read Press Release: Current Policy Making Death With Dignity Illegal Poses Risk to Physicians and Denies Quality Care To Patients

Read: Column by Helen Ubiñas in the Hartford Courant: Assisted Suicide Law Ignores Acts of Love

Read: Hartford Courtant: Friend's Arrest in Suicide Roils Town

Read: Harvard Health Policy Review: At The Very End Of Life; The Emergence of Policy Supporting Aid In Dying Among Mainstream Medical & Health Policy Organizations, By Kathryn Tucker Compassion & Choices Legal Director