Posted on 01/02/2014 1:08:18 PM PST by Anton.Rutter
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A California hospital is unwilling to allow an outside doctor to fit a 13-year-old declared brain dead after tonsil surgery with the breathing and feeding tubes that would allow her to be safely transferred to another facility, its lawyer said Tuesday.
Children's Hospital Oakland will not permit the procedures to be performed on its premises because Jahi McMath is legally dead in the view of doctors who have examined her, lawyer Douglas Straus wrote in a letter to the girl's family.
"Performing medical procedures on the body of a deceased human being is simply not something Children's Hospital can do or ask its staff to assist in doing," he said.
The refusal appeared to reverse the position articulated Monday by a hospital spokesman. He said the hospital would allow a doctor retained by the family to insert a feeding tube and to replace the oral ventilator keeping Jahi's heart beating with a tracheal tube — surgical procedures that would stabilize Jahi if she is moved to a facility willing to keep caring for her.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
California has tort reform. Non-economic damages are capped at $250K. The family will get a settlement but it'll be very low seven figures at best.
There are laws preventing health care providers from performing procedures on persons who have been pronounced dead. One unrelated example: Ambulance paramedics may not transport a mortally wounded motorcycle accident victim who was pronounced dead at the scene by a passerby physician. The medical examiner's office must be notified.
In the case of Jahi McMath, she has been pronounced dead by three physicians. The hospital and health care providers would need a court order or written order from the medical examiner/coroner to perform the surgical procedure needed to replace the oral endotracheal tube for extended duration of mechanical ventilation.
This is a heartbreaking case, particularly when Jahi reportedly didn't want to undergo the surgery in the first place.
Thank you. That's what I wanted to know.
If you see grieving parents who are trying everything they can think of to save their child (even if you think they are wasting their time) and assume that “no doubt” they are milking the system for a payout, well, I’ll just say that doesn’t seem to me the most charitable interpretation of events.
It's illegal to sell organs that have been donated, and all the girl's family have to do is say they do not choose to donate.
Yes, a dead body can be maintained with an oral ventilator and a feeding tube. The oral ventilator provides oxygen which can cause the heart to beat in a dead body.
“So the hospital should continue providing $10,000/day care for as long as it takes until God Himself miracles her back to life?”
We do not know anything about the financial state of the family and can only assume that they are paying for the current treatment plan. But, we do know that the ObamaCare Death Panels want to turn off the machines in order to save a few dollars.
Even with the dictates of the ObamaCare Death Panel and the possibility that the family might have difficulty coming up with the $10,0000.00 per day, we can hope that good people that are Pro Life and against ObamaCare will contribute to help the family through this difficult time.
Jesus raised Lazarus four days after he died. This girl has been medically dead for longer than that. How much time do you think they should give Him to act in this poor girls case?
God himself can preform the miracle with or without the ventilator. It is a specious argument to say that God will preform the miracle only with the aid of the vent. My God is omnipotent and can raise her should he so choose without artificial respiration
The family should have a pretty strong case against the hospital and/or hospital staff. Obviously something went very wrong. The hospital will settle, because this case would be very ugly.
The other situation is how the hospital has handled this problem. I have listened to their spokesman on TV. If he is an example of how the family has been handled, it is no wonder there has been this disaster. Some of the comments coming from the hospital have been cold and rude. Some families cannot cope with this kind of tragedy, or have never developed the skills to address a crisis. Therefore it takes compassionate handling at the outset to help them. The hospital should have tried to gain at least one person within the family to understand the situation and to be the person to work with.
Unfortunately, the hospital expected them to listen to what they were told and to comply. But, why should they? Their child is in this situation due to something the personnel did or didn’t do. Should they trust the hospital?
The hospital comes across as having only one interest, the money this is costing them.
I think it is safer to assume that they are not.
When was it reported that the hospital is at fault? I missed that one.
It actually wasn’t routine tonsil surgery from what I’ve read on this. She was having extensive surgery on her throat as a result of her sleep apnea from her weight problem. Why her mother didn’t help her lose the weight instead of putting her through this risky surgery is something I haven’t seen addressed yet.
Many doctors come across as arrogant jerks, and a lot of hospitals need serious work with their treatment of patients. But some FReepers clearly don't know any doctors personally. Except for extremely sick, evil, people like Kermit Gosnell, the last thing a real doctor wants to do is accept the death of a patient -- even in cases where it's inevitable.
Every drug has side effects, every surgery has serious risks, and there's a lot about medicine we don't know. People have come to believe that nothing can go wrong with "routine" "trivial" medical procedures. They're wrong. The family's lawyer isn't helping this, and neither is the hospital.
Here you go:
http://www.gofundme.com/jahi-mcmath
They've raised $43k and counting.
No. You are being dishonest.
Cadavers do not breathe nor do corpses have heart beats, even artificially generated.
She does not have rigor mortis, nor is she decomposing.
You are deliberately lying by saying she is a corpse and that is wrong to do.
I am going to side with a generous punitive settlement when the wrongful death case comes to court.
It could be said that that is exactly her attorney’s strategy.
The girl is dead, the hospital staff goofed, and by all means there should be legal action taken. But much of their pain and suffering is of their own making as they prolong the agony of waiting for someone to bring their brain dead girl back to life.
I agree with the hospital that they should not operate on a dead body.
beyond the brain dead issue, this hospital wanted to get this over with asap because they wanted to do their best to cover up their own potential negligence in this case.
they are also very anxious to get donor organs.
I have family in NICUs and have worked in hospitals. Some are hell bent at declaring people legally deadand then going after family to aloow them to harvest organs.
They would have destroyed any evidence of negligence on their part during organ removal and just said it occurred taking out organs.
I do not doubt it for one second.
One of the articles said that the child moves around on the bed at the mother’s presence.
It seems to me that if this child is truly dead, then why should the hospital hang on to her? Why not let her go with her parents and let them do what they feel is right? It’s certainly not going to harm the child any further since she’s dead already.
As afar as I am personally concerned, if the hospital insists on keeping her as though she were their own property, then yes, they should continue treatments no matter the cost.
And if the family thinks she’s alive and is willing to find long term care for their child, what the hell business is it of anyone’s? I mean...really. This is nothing but a disgusting power play by those on the public dole (as long as physicians play with bureaucrats, then they are owned by bureaucrats) in addition to the government.
This whole thing is sick and gross...meaning the topic of hospitals and doctors, and governments taking control of people, live or dead like they were property.
And then to say that people get riled up emotionally???? People SHOULD get riled up at government over power!
I don’t give a flip whether or not this child is dead or alive but I DO give a flip that none of us can make decisions for our children or for ourselves without those egotistical authoritarians sticking their noses where it doesn’t belong.
If those parents want their baby to continue to receive care, then that’s THEIR business!
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