[E. Pluribus Unum]

Evidently hospitals own your @$$ when you set foot in one.

[massgopguy]

Is her father’s name “John Q”?

[cripplecreek]

If they’re concerned about liability I’m sure it wouldn’t be hard for the lawyers to write up a binding waiver.

[gas_dr]

There is no one more pro-life than me. My credentials are well established on this issue. I have watched this case since I heard about it as I am both an anesthesiologist and intensive care physician. Sadly, the popular media is excoriating the hospital, and it seems same here on free republic. The fact of the matter is that brain death invokes the LEGAL DEFINITION of death. Let me explain to all how brain death is diagnosed.

After all the body chemistries are normalized and the body itself is warm to the point that it looks physiologically normal, the patient is taken off the ventilator. This is called an apnea test. If in 10 minutes there is no respiratory effort, this confirms whole brain death. Additionally, there are reflex tests that ascertain if even the lowest and most primitive part of the brain are working. ICe water is shot into the ears, looking for a response of the eyes (ice calorimetrics).

If the brain does not trigger the most rudimentary of reflexes which is to say to provide oxygenation by breathing, the only think that is happening to this child is that he heart is being kept alive in some bizarre and sick popular play. No doubt the parents are seeking retribution and milking this for all they are worth.

This is absolutely no different than how an organ may be kept alive outside the body by oxygenating it, etc. but it is independent of the body. Sadly, this child is dead, and I support the hospital as a matter of ETHICS for not contributing to this facade any further.