OUR PETITION
The 10 Human Rights of People with Moderate & Severe Acquired Brain Injuries (ABI/TBI)
(Including Traumatic, Stroke, Embolic, Anoxic, and Hypoxic Injuries)
To the State of Texas
My name is Jessica Varian.
I am the Founder of Jeffrey’s Journey & Legacy Advocacy.
My son Jeffrey’s story was documented in the films Open Your Eyes Jeffrey and UNBROKEN: What Science Didn’t See. I lived through a healthcare system that abandoned his recovery, ignored Neuro advances and potential, and discharged him instead of providing critical care leading to his possible preventable death from pneumonia due to sepsis.
Through lived experience, medical engagement, and years of advocacy, I have gained firsthand knowledge of how this system succeeds and fails families.
I speak not only for my son, but for every family who has been left confused, pressured, or abandoned after brain injury.
For them, I stand.
For them, I speak.
People with brain injuries deserve enforceable human rights.
The 10 Human Rights of ABI/TBI Survivors
1. The Right to Non-Discrimination
No person shall be denied the right to live or recover based on early or premature prognosis. No survivor shall be denied to continue treatment, access to board certified Physiatrists with a specialization in Brain Injury, medically necessary transfers, meaningful rehabilitation, and opportunities to recover. No decision shall be based on disability, insurance status, age, or imaging alone, including CT-Scans used to assume future “poor quality of life.”
All lives have equal value and equal opportunity to have a fair chance to rehabilitate.
2. The Right to Protection from Abandonment
No survivor shall be isolated, warehoused, prematurely discharged, or left without coordinated medical, social, and rehabilitative support.
Abandonment is not healthcare. We firmly reject medical ableism.
3. The Right to Evidence-Based and Emerging Recovery Care
The State of Texas shall guarantee access to:
Neuroplasticity-based rehabilitation
Neuromodulation therapies (when medically appropriate)
Integrated electrical stimulation with functional therapy
Robotics and assistive rehabilitation technologies
Cognitive, sensory, and emotional reintegration programs
Care must be early, inpatient, intensive, and continuous when clinically indicated.
4. The Right to Independent Brain Injury Expertise
Every moderate–severe ABI/TBI patient has the right to evaluation by a board-certified physiatrist specializing in brain injury.
Hospitals must:
Allow independent evaluations
Grant clinical access regardless of hospital affiliation
Prohibit obstruction of outside specialists
Remove contractual barriers
No institution may block lifesaving expertise.
5. The Right to Voice, Dignity, and Participation
Survivors and families have the right to:
Be heard
Be informed
Participate in decisions
Access records
Seek second opinions
Silencing families is a violation of human dignity. A legal guardian must have the last word, with few exception when protecting the patient’s life, if it is in danger.
6. The Right to Comprehensive Home and Caregiver Support
Texas must provide survivors and caregivers with:
State-of-the-art medical equipment
Essential medical supplies
Medically supervised nutrition
Trained neuro-trauma nursing visits
Safe private medical transportation
Certified home healthcare personnel
Regular caregiver relief services
Caregiving without support is systemic neglect.
7. The Right to Intensive, Specialized Rehabilitation
Survivors must have access to reputable inpatient, outpatient and home-based rehabilitation programs that include:
Physical, occupational, and speech therapy
Swallowing and communication therapy
Movement disorder and spasticity specialists
Advanced rehabilitation technologies
When medically appropriate, intensive therapy must be available.
8. The Right to Protection from Abuse and Systemic Harm
No survivor shall be subjected to:
Medical neglect
Insurance obstruction
Financial coercion
Premature discharge
Institutional pressure
Disability stigma
Systemic harm must be investigated and corrected.
9. The Right to Transparency, Safety, and Infection Accountability
All infections in ABI/TBI patients must be:
Fully documented
Reported
Investigated
All sepsis-related deaths must undergo independent review.
No preventable death shall be hidden.
10. The Right to Fully Informed, Hope-Preserving Decisions
Before any withdrawal of life support or irreversible decision:
Hospitals must ensure:
Brain injury evaluation by an independent Physiatrist with specialization in brain injury
Family education on neuroplasticity, neuromodulation, and relational biology
Disclosure of all treatment options
Protection from biased “quality of life” assumptions
Documented multidisciplinary review
Provide a standardized informational brochure outlining the10 Human Rights of ABI/TBI survivors for patients and caregivers
No life shall be ended without full knowledge, time, and expert input.
Conclusion
These rights exist to protect life, dignity, and recovery.
They reject premature hopelessness.
They reject medical abandonment.
They reject systems that value cost over human worth.
Texas must lead - not fail the most vulnerable.
No survivor should fight alone.
No family should be left in the dark.
No life should be quietly surrendered.
Hopefully,
Jessica Varian
Founder, Jeffrey’s Journey & Legacy Advocacy (501(c)(3))
Co-Producer, Open Your Eyes Jeffrey & UNBROKEN: What Science Didn’t See
Brain Injury Rights Advocate
501(h) Registered Advocate
