Posted on 01/09/2014 9:34:58 PM PST by Morgana
The lawyer for the family of Jahi McMath, the 13-year-old who has been declared brain dead, said Wednesday that doctors successfully inserted a gastric tube and tracheotomy tube into the teenager at an as yet undisclosed facility.
Jahi was transferred from Oakland Children’s Hospital January 5 after a protracted legal battle between the family and the hospital which declared Jahi brain dead December 12 and sought to remove her from a ventilator.
The arraignment to move Jahi was reached during a hearing Friday before Alameda Superior Court Judge Evelio Grillo under which Jahi’s mother, Nailah Winkfield, could remove her daughter from the hospital as long as she assumed full responsibility.
Christopher Dolan told reporters that Jahi’s health is “improving,” and labeled the surgery “a success.”
“She is doing very well and getting the treatment she should have gotten 28 days ago,” Dolan said in a text message, according to the Oakland Tribune. “Doctors are optimistic that her condition has stabilized and that her health is improving from when she was taken from Children’s Hospital Oakland.”
Illustrating the daily ebb and flow, on Monday, Nolan was far less optimistic. “She’s in very bad shape,” he said, adding examinations show Jahi’s medical condition “is not good.”
The hospital reiterated its position that Jahi is brain dead. Deterioration “became inevitable the moment she died,” according to Dr. Heidi Flori, a critical care physician at Children’s Hospital.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Dr. Flori said in a court declaration filed in U.S. District Court that “The medical team and I believe that additional and more dramatic signs of the body’s deterioration will continue to manifest over time, regardless of any procedures and regardless of any heroic measures that any facility in the country might attempt.”
At the recommendation of doctors Jahi underwent an operation on December 9 to remove her tonsils, adenoids and extra sinus tissue to treat pediatric obstructive sleep apnea.
Afterwards “The teen girl was alert and talking to doctors after the procedure, even asking for a Popsicle because her throat hurt,” CNN reported. “That was a relief in some ways because she’d expressed concerns to her family about the surgery, fearing she would never wake up from it, her uncle has said.”
Yeah...none of that is happening.
This girl died almost a month ago.
It’s the doctors who are on the hook, not the hospital.
That isn’t how this stuff works.
A building cannot perform, or botch, a surgey.
Indeed. This is akin to trying to keep a decapitated body “alive.” Not even remotely similar to Terri.”
Terri’s so called husband had doctors who said Terri was brain dead too. Yet her parents had video that showed she laughed at her father’s jokes. I still remember the video that Fox showed where Terri looked scared to death when they removed the feeding tube the first time. Still they had doctors testified that she was brain dead.
They said my father was in a vegetative state, yet he was still talking to us.
I don’t know what shape the child is really in, but they have pronounced people brain dead when they aren’t. I don’t know why they couldn’t let these people have more time to get used to the idea that their child is not going to come back, especially since the hospital and doctors caused her condition. I think it is because a dead child will lower the amount on a malpractice lawsuit than having a child that needs care for the rest of her life.
The hospital is also on the hook. It doesn’t sound like they had adequate care for her after the surgery. It was one of her relatives that noticed her bleeding, not the nursing care for the hospital. A corporation can also be held liable.
Something very similar happened to a friend’s sister. She was in her early twenties at the time and started bleeding from her surgery, which went unnoticed by the staff until it was too late.
We use to talk about taking someone off of lifesupport meaning machines keeping their heart and lungs going.
Now, we remove feeding tubes, which is totally different.
I had that situation with my mother.
If her heart and lungs were not working on their own, than we were going to'pull the plug'.
If they were working on their own, keep the tubes in.
If this girl's heart and lungs are working on their own, she should be given food and water.
If someone is brain dead are their heart and lungs going to continue work?
If they are brain dead, yes it is possible that they can respirate on their own.
I too was faced with the prospect of relatives being kept alive.
It is a horrible choice. Each of us has to make the best decision at the time. We need to take into consideration the prospect of recovery and the wishes of the patient. We need to take into consideration the opinions of our doctors and spiritual advisors.
I believe these people made the wrong decision. Take off the ventilator and heart machine and this girl’s body stops working.
God has the girl in his hands. I pray for peace for the family.
And as I have posted time and again, the hospitals and their insurance companies are not going to put up a fight over this.
I know this is a cold business assessment, but this stuff happens almost every day in this country. There is well established case law and civil precedent. Where it will become an issue is if they sue for a billion dollars, when every lawyer in the country could calculated the “normal” settlement for this in about ten minutes.
Again, I appreciate how cold this sounds. But this stuff happens.
I pray for this family to find peace as well.
They need to let her go from their minds, because she’s already gone from the shell they’re keeping alive.
It’s also been discussed that the family brought her food and was encouraging her to talk, both big no-nos for this complicated surgery. If that’s the case then maybe the family is insisting on this slow decomposition of the body to hide that issue. With family members in the medical profession, I’ve heard many stories about how loved ones can be a patient’s worst enemy. If this is true, I hope the hospital discloses this IF the family tosses the HIPAA regulations. For now, all we have is a family marching around wearing t-shirts with Jahi’s picture on them.
It’s been posted on other threads that due to California tort reform, the max is $250,000.
“she should be given food and water and cared for.”
If God has taken away her ability to be nourished naturally,without tubes,I’d say He is calling her home.
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Get ready for some folks here to disagree with you and claim that the declaration of 'brain death' is clear cut. It is not.
What is considered brain dead in one location is not brain dead in another. To make matters worse, the same committee that sets the organ transplant rules is the one that sets the criteria for when a person can be declared brain dead and their organs harvested.
Just wait for the Obamacare committees get in charge. They'll be using your voting record to determine if you get to keep your organs.
Source? She's dead. Attempts to suggest this is a judgment call won't bring her back to life. She's dead.
Terri was never declared brain dead. Doctors testified that she was in a PSV, which is very different from brain dead. Terri had enough electrical activity in her brain to keep her body alive - heart and lungs pumping, blood flow to the brain, etc.
Jahi has zero electrical activity in her brain. No blood flow to the brain. No electrical signals to the autonomic nervous system to keep her heart and lungs pumping and maintain her body’s temperature. They are using warming blankets to keep a cold corpse warm. The myocardial cells in the heart can generate the electrical charge needed to keep the heart beating for a few days, which is why Jahi’s heart is still beating. With no blood flow to the brain, the brain is beginning to liquify. The body will deteriorate rapidly now. No one declared brain dead has ever recovered - no one. That child is dead.
Rigor goes away after about 24 hours.
The FAQ is a very good overview.
Source?
Assuming the newspaper reports are accurate, she is dead according to California law. Locations differ in what their committees decide what is really dead. Some definite it as total brain dead, others partial. In some locations the committee that determines brain dead is the same one that oversees organ transplants. Try googling.
It has happened a few times, people waking up from being “vegetables”. If it happens this time, the press will probably ignore it
She is brain dead according to the criteria in all 50 States and the District of Columbia.
What don’t you understand? Try reading the FAQ in #35
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