Now the family is faced with not only the shock of what happened, but also the rudeness of the doctors and hospital staff, while, on the other hand, there are people telling them there's still hope. So, it's understandable that Jahi's mother does not trust the "brain death" diagnosis or the hospital or any of the doctors and, instead, is clinging to that glimmer of hope.
My father fell victim to a hospital mistake. And, like the two of you, when my family believed there was just a glimmer of hope, we continued to fight. At some point, Jahi's family will have to accept what happened, but right now it should be understandable why they're not.
We don’t know what health conditions that the girl might have had other than the sleep apnea which is a serious health condition; she was in fact in failing health. The family won’t allow the hospital to disclose any details, filed a restraining order against them and the only details we know are those disclosed in court filings which are not covered under HIPAA or the restraining order.
She was quite obese and her sleep apnea was according to her own family and court documents, was causing her problems with bedwetting, the inability to concentrate and hence doing poorly in school, and irritability. Untreated sleep apnea can also cause or contribute to obesity and difficulty in losing weight and also high blood pressure, heart arrhythmias, congestive heart failure, diabetes among others. Yes the mortality rate for such a surgery, even when including a tonsillectomy (and BTW the morbidity rate associated with tonsillectomy alone is 2% to 4% due to post-operative bleeding; the mortality rate is 1 in 15,000, due to bleeding, airway obstruction, or anesthesia complication), is low as compared to some other major surgeries, but it is not without risks of complications. This was not as has been reported in many MSM outlets and in several opinion pieces and blogs, a “routine” or simple tonsillectomy.
No surgery is “supposed” to result in anyone’s death, but there is always risk to any surgery. A low morbidity rate does not equal a zero morbidity rate. And complications after surgery, even fatal ones, does not always mean that the surgeons and hospital staff did something wrong. Although I will say that at least according to what the family has said, and understanding that we don’t know the whole story yet, that if Jahi was experiencing severe and unusual post op bleeding and that complication was ignored by the ICU staff, that the mother would have a good case for suing the hospital and if that turns out to be the case, I hope she wins. But ironically since her mother won’t allow her daughter to be taken off artificial life support and refuses to accept that her daughter is dead, and hence no autopsy can be performed that might prove negligence or malpractice, and the longer this goes on the more difficult it may become to prove her case.
But the family also said that Jahi was talking and asking for a popsicle in the recovery room, very shorty after the surgery. Did the family encourage her to talk and give her that popsicle even though normal post op protocol would be for her not to try to speak or take anything by mouth so soon. When they saw what might have been at first very normal post op bleeding, did they freak out and become hysterical, causing Jahi to also become so? We don’t yet know exactly what happened. But this type of surgery is not without some controversy.
http://www.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/sleep-apnea/surgery.html
http://www.journalotohns.com/content/42/1/15
Now the family is faced with not only the shock of what happened, but also the rudeness of the doctors and hospital staff, while, on the other hand, there are people telling them there's still hope.
I agree that the hospital spokesperson and attorney is a PR nightmare, they have come across very poorly and callously. But we can’t say that all the doctors and all the hospital staff were rude or uncaring. (A doctor or several doctors informing the family that the fact is that this child is dead, while painful, is not necessarily being “rude”.) We also don’t know anything about the behaviors and attitudes and perhaps rudeness of the family and their attorney before we got to this point. We also have to understand that since Jahi has been declared dead, that I’m pretty sure that no private insurance, Medicaid or Medi-Cal is going to reimburse the hospital for continued and very expensive care and life support for a person who has by all medical and legal standards has been declared dead. The hospital is now in very perilous legal and ethical dilemma.
So, it's understandable that Jahi's mother does not trust the "brain death" diagnosis or the hospital or any of the doctors and, instead, is clinging to that glimmer of hope.
It is perfectly understandable why a mother would want to fight for her child and I can’t blame her for holding out hope and praying for a miracle. But the brain death diagnosis was confirmed by multiple doctors, multiple tests and protocols and confirmed by an independent neurologist not affiliated with this hospital appointed by the court.
At some point, Jahi's family will have to accept what happened, but right now it should be understandable why they're not.
At some point they will have to accept that this child is sadly dead. But in the meantime, we have a protracted very public and emotional legal battle and now much added confusion regarding the difference between, brain damage, brain impairment, coma, PVS and complete brain death and the fact that the artificial life support that keeps Jahi’s heart beating and her body warm, doesn’t mean that she is not dead.
We would like to think that a patient or the patient’s family has the right to make all the calls regarding medical care and continuation of life support, and I think a lot of latitude should be given when a diagnosis is unclear, but that is not always how it works.
For instance, let’s say a person thinks, truly “believes” that one of his kidneys needs to be removed, let’s even say that the patient prayed about it and truly believes that God sent him a message in a dream that told him that needed this surgery, his pastor even prayed about it and also believes this as a sign from God. But all subsequent medical tests prove that his kidney is functioning perfectly, that he is in perfect health and that such a surgery would not only be unnecessary but unnecessary life threatening. Should this patient be able to demand that the hospital and surgeons remove his kidney? Should a person who “wants” to be a paraplegic or have a limb amputated because of some psychological fetish demand a hospital to carry this out just because they want it?
What about a person who takes a shot gun shot at close range directly to the head in a tragic hunting accident and the entire upper half of the person’s head is blown off, but let’s say that his friends and the EMT’s are somehow and against all odds able to restart his heart and administer artificial respiration while he is transported to the hospital. But once there, the doctors determine that the patient is brain dead because he has no brain left and he is declared dead. But if his family “believes” that their son is still alive because his heart is still beating, even though it is only kept beating due to artificial means, should the hospital have to continue life support and be forced to perform other medical procedure on him when all medical indications says that he’s dead?
What a mess.