Miller ex rel. Miller v. Whitburn

CUDAHY, Circuit Judge.

Tiffany Miller is five years old. She suffers from a condition known as “short-bowel syndrome.” As a result of this disability, Tiffany must be fed exclusively through intravenous total parenteral nutrition (TPN), a procedure in which a feeding catheter is placed directly into Tiffany’s stomach. Another catheter in her stomach drains all secretions. An undesired byproduct of TPN feeding is progressive liver deterioration. The only way to restore Tiffany’s liver function is to replace the liver, along with her lower intestine, in a liver-bowel transplant. Without such a…