In May, Mr. Adox, 44, an account planner in the advertising field, had been living with the neurological disease ALS for two years. Mr. Adox, who loved bike riding and participated in triathlons, had first noticed weakness in his legs while running to catch a train. The condition—amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease—robbed him of his ability to move his muscles. Eventually, he needed a breathing tube and a feeding tube, and couldn’t speak. His only form of communication was the use of his eyes, and it was increasingly a struggle to open them.
Mr. Adox told his husband,Danni Michaeli, that he wanted to stop life support and remove his ventilator. He also wanted to donate his organs after he died. That’s when things got complicated.