50 years ago, Karen Quinlan’s coma sparked the movement for patients’ rights near the end of life

Karen Ann Quinlan fell into a coma in 1975. The high-profile legal case over her parents’ wish to remove her ventilator shapes American patients’ rights today.

By: Robert S. Olick, SUNY Upstate Medical University, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: March 23, 2026

Words: 1,388

Last Updated: 4 months, 1 week ago

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By Robert S. Olick, SUNY Upstate Medical University

March 31, 2026, marks 50 years since a landmark decision that shapes American patients’ rights every day: the New Jersey Supreme Court ruling in the case of Karen Ann Quinlan, who had suffered an irreversible coma.

Quinlan’s case established for the first time that decisions near the end of life should be made by patients and families, not by doctors and hospitals alone. As a bioethicist, …

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