BUFFALO, MN – A Buffalo man who had been battling COVID-19 on a ventilator has died days after he was moved to a Texas hospital amid a legal battle between his family and a Minnesota health care system, according to a statement from Allina Health’s Mercy Hospital.

Last week, an Anoka County judge ordered Allina Health’s Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids to keep Scott Quiner on a ventilator. Quiner had gone to the hospital after he contracted COVID-19 for the second time in October, according to WCCO.

His wife of 35 years, Anne, said she went to court after the hospital said that nothing more could be done for him, and it was time to take him off the ventilator.

She asked for other treatments, and vehemently disagreed with the hospital’s decision, which she said could “end [her] husband’s life.”

Quiner was transported to a “health care facility of the family’s choice” on Jan. 15, according to Allina Health.

Quiner’s family attorney said that when he was admitted to the Texas hospital, he was determined to be “severely malnourished.” Since then Quiner had been receiving nutrition, hydration, along with “other medications that his wife had requested and Mercy Hospital refused to administer.”

Allina said in a statement that the system has “great confidence in the exceptional care provided to our patients, which is administered according to evidence-based practices by our talented and compassionate medical teams. Due to patient privacy, we cannot comment on care provided to specific patients.”

The family attorney on Saturday said the family is “deeply appreciative” of community support. “We request some time to grieve but hoping to use our knowledge and experience to help others going through similar experiences,” she added.