Gary Coleman's ex-wife Shannon Price ignored instructions in the actor's living will when she ordered his doctor to disconnect his life support, court documents show. Coleman had asked that he not be unplugged until after he had been in an irreversible coma for at least 15 days. But Price—named in Coleman's instructions as the agent authorized to make medical decisions for him—requested his life support be turned off just one day after he fell into a coma.
A spokesman for the Utah Valley Medical Association said the wishes of family members outweigh instructions in a living will. "It's not going to trump a family member who comes in and says: 'I want you to do something different than what's here in the advance directive,'" he tells CNN. A Utah court appointed an independent attorney yesterday to oversee Coleman's estate until a legal battle between his ex-wife and ex-girlfriend is settled. (More living will stories.)