IOWA CITY, IA – A man who refused to allow a blood transfusion for his comatose wife because of religious beliefs has asked a judge to terminate the guardianship given to her father.
Tawnya Nissen, 28, of Clinton, was hospitalized Aug. 4 with neuroleptic malignant syndrome, a condition caused by a reaction to diet pills.
According to documents filed Wednesday in Johnson County District Court, Chris Nissen wants a judge to end the “limited guardianship” given to his wife’s father, Thomas Reid. Nissen also wants to move his wife from University Hospitals in Iowa City to a hospital in Davenport.
Reid sought and won temporary guardianship over his daughter earlier this month after her husband claimed the couple’s religion prohibits the sharing of blood. The Nissens are Jehovah’s Witnesses and the faith forbids blood transfusions, court records show.
Reid’s guardianship was set to last until Tawnya Nissen was “conscious and capable of making her own medical decisions,” Judge Marsha Beckelman ruled.
According to documents filed by Chris Nissen’s lawyer, Frank Santiago of Iowa City, Tawnya Nissen is no longer in a coma and on Monday told her husband, father and doctor that she wanted to move from University Hospitals to Genesis Hospital in Davenport.
Beckelman ordered a hearing date to be scheduled once the proper paperwork is filed with the court.