FRANKLIN, Mass., Dec. 3 A Massachusetts court case looks at whether a family's religious beliefs should affect an individual's medical treatment.The case pits state law, which says a person is dead when the brain is dead, and some religious groups who believe a person is only dead when the heart stops. The difference is important for patients totally dependent on life support.The ongoing legal battle in Suffolk Family and Probate court was brought by a Massachusetts family that had recently ended another religion-based lawsuit trying to prevent a hospital from taking a relative off life support, The Boston Globe reported.Relatives of 72-year-old Cho Fook Cheng had fought the Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center over the hospital's decision to remove him from his life support. While their efforts ultimately proved futile, they have filed the new case .The family stopped medications and let Cheng die naturally in accordance with Buddhist beliefs.The paper said that the new case is set to continue at the Suffolk County courthouse on Tuesday when Cheng's relatives will begin to state their case why state laws should be changed.Copyright 2006 by UPI
