[NYer]

Even Joseph’s doctor in London has admitted that the tracheostomy could prolong his life.

The mindset has moved towards no longer prolonging life. Euthanasia is now the expedient solution to a life-threatening condition.

[Carley]

Sin

[muawiyah]

Hmm, another misuse of the expression "quality of life" to justify ending a life.

There are people who think the doctors in this case cannot possibly have a good "quality of life"~ so should the doctors be taken out and executed quickly?

Just how firm are they in their beliefs?

[A_perfect_lady]

Weird. Very weird. Why are they resisting this simple procedure? And yes, it is relatively simple. My best friend’s mother had this done in January. She had a chronic lung disease, and they knew she would die eventually from it, but it enabled her to live another month and say her goodbyes to members of her family out-of-state, who flew in to see her one last time. She only lived one month like that, but it was valuable to her.

[oneamericanvoice]

Since the parents are paying for it, the doctors should do what they wish. I hope they get to bring poor little Joseph to the US, and that he will live a very long life.

My Dad suffered a brain injury from a fall. The medical staff insisted that he there was no hope and that he was brain dead. Well, he squeezed the nurse’s hand when we asked him to, and when my sister entered the room the first time, he opened his eyes and tracked her the whole way. Then he turned to look at the nurse who was changing his ventilator. No one would listen to me. I also, blame the transfer to the other hospital across town. It makes no sense to jog a brain bleed patient. I’m having a hard time letting go and it’s been a few years now.

[bert]

I don't understand the problem. Just go home and do it

Ask forgiveness, not permission

Emergency tracheotomy Procedure

This procedure, technically called a cricothyroidotomy, should be undertaken only when a person with a throat obstruction is not able to breathe at all-no gasping sounds, no coughing-and only after you have attempted to perform the Heimlich maneuver three times without dislodging the obstruction. If possible, someone should call for paramedics while you proceed. What you will need

* A first aid kit, if available * A razor blade or very sharp knife * A straw (two would be better) or a ballpoint pen with the inside (ink-filled tube) removed. If neither a straw nor a pen is available, use stiff paper or cardboard rolled into a tube. Good first aid kits may contain "trache" tubes.

There will not be time for sterilization of your tools, so do not bother; infection is the least of your worries at this point.

Emergency Find the indentation between the Adam's apple and the Cricoid cartilage.

Make a half-inch horizontal incision about one half inch deep. Pinch the incision or insert your finger inside the slit to open it. Insert your tube into the incision, roughly one-half to one inch deep. How to Proceed

1. Find the person's Adam's apple (thyroid cartilage). 2. Move your finger about one inch down the neck until you feel another bulge. This is the cricoid cartilage. The indentation between the two is the cricothyroid membrane, where the incision will be made. 3. Take the razor blade or knife and make a half-inch horizontal incision. The cut should be about half an inch deep. There should not be too much blood. 4. Pinch the incision open or place your finger inside the slit to open it. 5. Insert your tube in the incision, roughly one-half to one inch deep. 6. Breathe into the tube with two quick breaths. Pause five seconds, then give one breath every five seconds. 7. You will see the chest rise and the person should regain consciousness if you have performed the procedure correctly. The person should be able to breathe on their own, albeit with some difficulty, until help arrives.

http://www.tracheostomy.com/resources/surgery/emergency.htm

[txlurker]

Very sad story. Is it wrong to ask if the parents knew that this child would have the same condition as the daughter who died, why would they risk having another baby? Not meaning to be cruel. Just wondering.

[wagglebee]

I think this is the same story from yesterday:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2681510/posts

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

The serious problem here is that the doctors are “actively campaigning to force death”. There is a major difference between permitting death through omission of “extraordinary efforts”, and trying to force situations in which death *must* happen.

In this situation, a simple legal waiver for the hospital and attending physician, to permit another physician to conduct an “emergency” pediatric tracheotomy, before transporting the infant out of the hospital, would be acceptable. As would transferring the infant, with ventilator, to his home, where another physician could conduct the surgery before disconnecting the ventilator.

In either case, it is “no skin off the nose” of the hospital or its doctors.

But instead, like priests of Moloch, they are trying to force a situation in which the child *must* die, inside or outside of their “care”.

This is not a situation of benign indifference, but one of active malevolence. And if that child survives a significant amount of time outside of that hospital, the credibility of both the institution and its doctors must be called into question.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

I would also add, that it would probably be a good idea to arrange for a 24-hour a day guard for the infant. The determination of this hospital that the child must die can only be interpreted as their having a hostile, even dangerous attitude to the infant. Under such circumstances, it would not be out of the question that they would attempt to kill the child.

Thus, any medications or sustenance given to the infant should be inspected beforehand, to insure there is no “accidental” contamination; that all life sustaining equipment is watched, and that no “accidental” switching off of oxygen, or other such lethal efforts are permitted.

[ViLaLuz]

“Though doctors have said Joseph is in a “vegetative state,” Dr. Byrne called it a “made-up term” similar to the notion of “brain death,” which he said was invented “simply to get beating hearts for transplantation.”

Well there you go. There’s the reason right there. There’s mucho $$ made selling organs.

[jerseyrocks]

The last I checked the one who decides life and death does not walk among us. The hospital should due its duty and use everything possible for this beautiful child to survive. GOD will decide the rest.

[Gene Eric]

>> Dr. Byrne called the attempt to have the state remove Joseph’s ventilator “terrible, absolutely terrible,” and insisted that in his fifty years in neonatology he’s never removed a child’s ventilator.

Some doctors are better than others. Perhaps it has to do with Dr. Byrne’s Irish heritage.