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American medical–legal case

Karen Ann Quinlan (March 29, – June 11, ) was an American woman who became an important figure in the history of the right to die controversy in the United States.

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When she was 21, Quinlan became unconscious after she consumed Valium along with alcohol while on a crash diet and lapsed into a coma, followed by a persistent vegetative state. After doctors refused the request of her parents (Joseph and Julia Quinlan) to disconnect Karen's ventilator, her parents filed suit to get her disconnected.

The parents believed that her still being connected constituted extraordinary means of prolonging her life.

Eventually a court ruled that the ventilator could be withdrawn. However, she continued to breathe on her own.

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She survived another nine years in a persistent vegetative state.

Quinlan's case continues to raise important questions in moral theology, bioethics, euthanasia, legal guardianship and civil rights. Her case has affected