AP News, October 13th, 2007
Dr. Daniel Gunther, who oversaw a widely debated surgery and other treatment meant to stunt the growth of a brain-damaged 9-year-old to improve her quality of life, has died. He was 49.
Gunther committed suicide Sept. 30 at his home by breathing car exhaust, the King County Medical Examiner's office said Friday.
Colleagues and family members said they didn't believe Gunther's suicide was related to the treatment of the girl, named Ashley.
Gunther was an endocrinologist at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle and an associate professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine when Ashley, then 6 1/2, was referred to him in 2004. Her parents wanted to medically stunt her growth to make her more comfortable and allow them to move her more easily and take better care of her.
The bedridden girl had her uterus and breast tissue removed at Children's and received large doses of hormones.
Gunther had defended the treatment.
"My job is to improve the lives of my patients, and I could see the wisdom in improving her life and comfort," he told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in January. "To me, it was not a difficult ethical dilemma."
Gunther's colleague, Dr. Doug Diekema, an ethicist at Children's Hospital, said they received praise and criticism after they co-authored a paper last year outlining Ashley's treatment.
But "I never got the sense from Dan that he was depressed and down about the Ashley case," Diekema told The Seattle Times. "I think he felt good about the way he helped that family. ... I think in many ways, it energized him."
Diekema did not immediately return an Associated Press call seeking comment Friday.
Gunther's brother-in-law, Michael Gunther Maher of Fair Oaks, Calif., told The Times that the family believes Gunther's history of depression led to the suicide.
Last May, Children's Hospital acknowledged breaking state law when doctors performed a hysterectomy on Ashley. Sterilization surgeries may not be performed on children without a court order.
Hospital officials said they had introduced new safeguards to make sure requirements for court orders are followed.
