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 ...
Yes.
The thing is, no one can give that answer, only their opinion.
The only way to know is to “pull the plug” and see.
This is an example of a death panel in a way.
Thanks for your posts/point of view/insight on this sensitive subject.
Just keep adding those 0’s to the settlement that’s coming, stupid hospital administrators.
a very unexpected outcome from a tonsillectomy ... one that definitely bears investigation (especially in view of the hospital’s really rather odd behavior since....)
I have wondered that too, a dead body tells fewer tales than a living one...
So the hospital should continue providing $10,000/day care for as long as it takes until God Himself miracles her back to life?
It is a tragedy for sure. I have been to Children's Hospital in Oakland many times. Every staff member I ever dealt with, was kind, caring and professional. It is sad.
You know this how? Are you God?
Even a tonsillectomy holds risks, especially for a young, obese body. However, this poor child did not just have a tonsillectomy. She had her tonsils and adenoids removed, and her uvula altered/reduced. Why? Because she had sleep apnea, something that probably could have been prevented if her parents loved her enough to feed her well and exercise with her.
It is standard procedure and the requirements for declaring someone brain dead
JEES GDR
IT’S GREAT TO GET A PROFESSIONAL TAKE ON THIS ‘OUT OF CONTROL’ SITUATION .....SCIENCE TRIUMPHS OVER EMOTION ..JUST AS IT OUGHT TO.....I SALUTE YOU DR. PROFESSIONAL... CLARITY COMES TO THE FREEREPUBLIC AS IT MOST TIMES DOES COMPLIMENTS OF THE PROS...! IT’S WHAT MAKES THIS PLACE SO VALUABLE..!
THe hospital is not hiding anything. The negligence on the hospital side is likely vicarious. Bleeding tonsils are a known complication of the procedure. Additionally the child probably had a UPPP (reduction of obstructive tissues) as a function of her morbid obesity. By definition she likely has a difficult airway. When she started bleeding, it was probably the red sea in there. This is one of the most fearful complications. I have handled a couple of the cases and believe me I needed to throw away my underwear after all was said and done.
I have indeed one many awards for my compassion including promotion to the highest office in my hospital. Your point? Oh wait, when logic fails, personal attacks with emotion mitigate a response to the actual issue. Silly me, I forgot that compassion is more in telling people what they want to hear instead of the truth.
I am indeed a real doctor, triple board certified and one of my boards happens to be neurocritical care. This is a very sad and awful case. I am certain all involved are haunted by it. But yes, the heart can be kept alive indefinitely my ventilating the lungs. The lack of brain function confirm the death.
“The girl is dead and we want her organs while they are still fresh. There are rich people who will pay us top dollar for those parts, and they are ours, I tell you. Ours!”
I am completely correct on point...look at the law and understand the medicine behind it. How is what I wrote beside the point? The child is dead. That is exactly the point. Nothing is being done beside assaulting a corpse. This is not an emotional issue like Shivo who was breathing on her own and living. This is a ventilator allowing a heart to beat, nothing more. The person, the being, and the body is in fact dead
Thank you for a very reasoned and educated response.
I want to hear the truth. That’s why I keep asking. So once again, can a dead body be maintained with just an oral ventilator and a feeding tube? Can an oral ventilator cause a heart to beat in a dead body?
I'm not assuming she's dead. Even if that's the case, I'd expect them to turn the girl over to the parents, and be helpful in that process.
This is a death panel situation. It's about parental rights. And it's the future we all face if those parents can't have custody of their child.
You’d think the hospital would be falling over themselves to get her and the lawyers out their doors asap.
I would be happy to. Yes the heart is beating precisely because of the oxygenation artificially applied with a mechanical ventilator. The brain (remember apnea test) is not stimulating the body to breath. Separated from the artificial machine pumping the lungs, there will not be another breath. There is no blood flow to the brain (google 4 vessel angiography or ultrasonography) . Because it has been proven there is no “breath of life” all that is being accomplished is keeping a heart beating apart from the brain. The legal, and medical definition of death. This heart could be kept a live in a petrie dish with a bypass machine outside the body. The child is therefore dead as the brain is irreversibly destroyed and no life function exists. It is the catch 22 of being able to apply a ventilator quickly, but it does not mean the child is alive. I grieve for her, her parents, and every worker who tried to save her.
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