Bartling

In Bartling v. Superior Court (1984) 163 Cal.App.3d 186 [ 209 Cal.Rptr. 220 ] (Bartling I), we held that a competent, nonterminally ill adult patient has a constitutionally based right to refuse and/or to terminate medical treatment. We remanded to the superior court for a determination as to whether the granting of attorneys’ fees pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 1021.5 was appropriate. (Bartling I, at p. 197.) This appeal is from the superior court’s denial of appellants’, William Francis Bartling et al. (appellants), motion to award attorneys fees under this statute.

Facts

To facilitate an understanding of this case, we repeat the synopsis of the underlying facts related in Bartling /, at pages 189-190: Mr. Bartling, at 70 years of age, “suffered from emphysema, chronic respiratory failure, arteriosclerosis, an abdominal aneurysm (abnormal ballooning of the main artery passing through the abdomen to the legs), and a malignant tumor of the lung. Mr. Bartling also had a history of . . . ‘chronic acute anxiety/ depression’ and alcoholism. [1Í] Mr. Bartling entered [respondent] Glendale Adventist [Medical Center] on April 8,1984, for treatment of his…