Paterno's family, which includes his wife, Sue, five children, and 17 grandchildren, were summoned on Saturday afternoon to the hospital, where Paterno had been under care since being readmitted on Jan. 13.
NBC News reported that continued chemotherapy treatments had created complications for Paterno that resulted in his going back into the hospital eight days ago.
Paterno's lung cancer was disclosed by his family on Nov. 18, nine days after he was fired by the university's board of trustees in the wake of the child sexual-abuse scandal that was revealed following the indictment on Nov. 5 of former Paterno assistant Jerry Sandusky.
At the time, the family called it a "treatable" form of lung cancer. But after Paterno suffered a broken pelvis in a fall at his home, he was admitted to the hospital Dec. 11 to make it easier for him to receive chemotherapy and radiation. He originally had injured his pelvis early in preseason practice in August when he was run into by wide receiver Devon Smith.
He was released from the hospital Dec. 18 but returned Jan. 13, right after he completed an interview with Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post. The interview, which was published Jan. 14, contained his first public comments since the scandal and his firing as head coach.
While in the hospital the first time, a family friend said the cancer treatments "were really taking a lot out of him." Jay Paterno said prior to Penn State's appearance in the TicketCity Bowl that his father had his "good days and bad," but added: "He's a fighter, and he's fighting this."
