Posted on 04/29/2005 10:10:26 AM PDT by Calpernia
A 13-year-old boy declared brain dead after the spread of an infection following a dental procedure was taken off a ventilator on Thursday, and his heart and other organs stopped soon after, a hospital spokeswoman said.
The mechanical ventilator for Teron Francis was turned off at the request of his family shortly before 5 p.m., Montefiore Children's Hospital spokeswoman Pamela Adkins said. The boy's heart and other organs stopped by 5:05 p.m.
``Our hearts go out to the family, and we hope they will be allowed to find peace,'' the hospital said in a statement.
Teron was declared brain dead _ a diagnosis the hospital said means ``the patient is dead'' _ and a death certificate was issued last week.
Earlier Thursday, his family asked state Supreme Court Justice Douglas McKeon in the Bronx to vacate his Monday injunction preventing the hospital from taking the teen off the respirator.
The court hearing was attended by two doctors and the boy's mother, Marcelyn Francis.
She testified that she had hoped Teron might recover, that she hoped for a miracle ``but that she now accepted the fact that he was brain dead and there was no chance for his recovery,'' McKeon said in a telephone interview.
``I issued an order that vacated my injunction which prevented the hospital from taking him off life support,'' the judge said.
McKeon said he had issued the restraining order to give the boy's family time to ascertain through a second opinion whether he was indeed brain dead. But the mother had instructed doctors not to revive her son if his heart stopped.
The hospital has said there was no need for the family to go to court because the hospital's long-standing policy is to support and accommodate the family in its decision.
``It is our policy to give the family enough time to come to grips with the realization,'' hospital spokesman Steven Osborne said earlier this week.
McKeon, who took a keen interest in the case and visited Teron in the hospital, said he felt he couldn't make decisions regarding the boy without going to his bedside.
``I said in open court,'' he recalled, ``that I felt that a judge could not be asked to make a decision whether someone lives or dies and not go to the bedside of that person.''
After signing the order Monday, McKeon said he felt that Teron ``became my own child.''
They tried to make some hay out of the fact that the boy was turned away from the dentist when he showed up there alone, but a dentist can't just start cutting up the mouths of 13 year olds without their parents permission. The next thing you know, the kid was being rushed to the emergency room.
It seems to be just one of those scary freakish medical nightmares, where a few little things conspire to make you suddenly deceased. Really sad.
Perhaps bacteria
I don't know about heart problems but heart murmers you do. I have one and I have to take 4 amoxicillians one hour before any dental appointment.
Wow. Where did this come from? My teeth were straightened nicely by an orthodontist.
"Perhaps bacteria from the teeth get in the bloodstream during a procedure and then attack the heart."
I think I'm gonna go floss my teeth now....then slip into a bubble-suit.....and maybe rock myself to sleep.
Would blood poisoning put a 13 y.o on life support? And not recover?
As far as the dental thing, my mother-in-law recently fell and broke her femur, and it had to be surgically repaired, and her dentist told her the other day that because of that, mostly over the fact that she has a "foreign object" in her leg now (a rod), she'll always have to do a round of antibiotics before any dental procedures.
You are so kind, I know there are many families who just can't let go of their family members. Those last few days or months mean so much to them. I knew a guy who was on fire, he tried to jump into river after wreck, but got stopped. The doctors said they should have let him jump, but the family insisted that he be kept alive. He lived for another week. They wouldn't have had those last few days if the family hadn't been so insistent. He wanted to go but the family couldn't let go of him.
The bacteria, which builds up in a few days of not flossing, can causes blood clots. So be careful even going in for a cleaning if you don't floss regularly.
Wow. Freakish is right. And sad.
I had a heart murmer when I was born. Do they go away?
I'm 35 I still have mine, They are rarely bad because I got mine from my great grandmother who just celebrated her 103 birthday last month and as far as I know still has hers.
The significant difference is that the kid was brain dead, not brain damaged.
There's much to this sad story that isn't reported here. I expect to hear about it again, after the mother sues.
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/43079.htm
http://www.nypost.com/commentary/45054.htm
Not sure...but as I replied before, our old baby sitter was sick for years because of her blood infection..could be possible though...there can be some pretty nasty bacteria in the human mouth...
"This probably was caused by an orthodontist, they are the biggest crooks/quacks in the entire medical/dental field."
The girlfriend of a young co-worker of mine died of cancer of the tongue. Her orthodontist ignored the lesion on her tongue and told her it was just an "irritation" from the braces. She died at 20 yrs. of age. Sad.
::goes to floss::
This sounds legitimate. The one loose thread I see is that the family wanted a second opinion, and it's not clear whether they got one or not.
I think getting an independent second opinion in serious medical situations is extremely important, especially since the hospital may have a financial stake in pulling the plug.
"Brain Dead," like "vegetative," is a term that is open to manipulation. But if there was no hope of recovery, then it was right to turn off the machine.
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