Posted on 01/03/2014 4:17:39 PM PST by Drew68
Edited on 01/03/2014 4:20:22 PM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
The agreement, described in the Oakland courtroom of Alameda County Superior Court Judge Evelio Grillo, is the latest development in an unusual battle between the hospital and the girl's family, who has rejected declarations that Jahi is dead as a result of brain death.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfchronicle.com ...
My take on it is that this could have been avoided all together if the poor child’s family had cooked her healthy food and exercised with her. They wanted a quick fix for her sleep apnea so they had her airway enlarged. That is so sad. Quick fix for breakfast: McDonalds. Quick fix for lunch: Hot Pockets. Quick fix for supper: Dominos. Quick fix for breathing problems due to obesity: surgery. Now she’s dead and they are feeling quite guitly, prompting this nightmare for which they clearly need counciling.
No.
In the old days, we called this 'being dead.'
We called being in a coma 'being in a coma.' And the deceased isn't in a coma. She's dead.
If she is sent to NY or some other distant locale, this family is fixing to have a tough row to hoe.
After all the current emotions are over, they will be forced to either relocate or deal with a daughter who is on artificial support for a very long time.
Whether one agrees or disgrees as to her life or death status, the odds of a miracle are not too good.
“I know this is morbid, but does anyone know how long a dead body can be maintained in such a manner?”
Have you never heard of Karen Ann Quinlan?
She was brain dead and kept alive on a ventilator.
Back then in the 70’s it was the family trying to let her die by removing the ventilator and the hospital that refused.
She lived for months until the family won the right to have the ventilator removed.
She did not die as expected and live almost a decade more.
If the hospital doctors had shown more compassion instead of being heartless and cold then perhaps the family would have agreed with the doctor’s reccomendation. I get the family’s rejection of it considering the inconsiderate tone from the hospital and its lawyers.
One doesn’t treat a grieving family like non-human pieces of crap.
Maybe that’s it. The Grandmother is a step removed from the deceased, so she is a bit more clearheaded, just a bit, than the mother. Just maybe the Grandmmther has started to smell money from possible litigation. I think they had to release the host hospital from some if not all liability in order to re located her body. Still, that Attorney probably detects a deep pocket or two or three still available for the gouging. If they do sue someone, I suspect it will be sooner that later, in order to ride the momentum of public sentiment. This may provoke a quick settlement from the party judged to be most at fault. No one will end up satisfied when this story is finally over.
Unfortunately, that’s true of a lot of adults I know also. Instead of losing weight and exercising they’d rather take pills for their cholesteral, diabetes, etc. I know 3 women in their 50’s who have had to have their knees replaced, not because they are great athletes, but because they are overweight. None of their doctors insisted they lose weight.
My own mother supposedly has high cholesteral, high blood pressure and diabetes. She spends most of her time eating at the buffet. She quit doing any walking or exercise of any kind years ago. She is currently taking 9 medicines. My husband has become the same way. Why change his diet when he can just take pills or use a machine for his snoring.
We can’t expect our children to do any better than we do.
She was brain dead and kept alive on a ventilator.
Karen was not brain dead. Her EEG showed slow-wave activity. That's not brain dead. That's brain injured. Jahi shows no cerebral activity whatsoever. None. Nothing. Zip. Nada.
Don’t feed the troll. I got sucked into it with him or her on the other thread. There is no hope for rational discussion as the poster does not deal well with reality.
Nonsense. By all accounts she was in a persistent vegetative state. It would help this discussion if you wouldn't conflate the two.
“Jahi shows no cerebral activity whatsoever. None. Nothing. Zip. Nada.”
You are making up details about he brain waves as HIPPA law requirements have not been waived by the family and the hospital has released no information as per the law.
Personally I agree that she is brain dead, but can’t know, nor can you.
I must call you on your overt disregard of of honesty.
I cant think of any local News Anchor who could say uvulopalatopharyngoplasty without slowing their read rate down to 33rpm, are they may still get it wrong, winning more ridicule. I studied to become a Medical Assistant years ago, and always had trouble with the word Sphngmomanometer; or Blood Pressure Monitor.
It's HIPAA, not HIPPA.
Can’t journalists write “uvulopalatopharyngoplasty” and briefly explain it, and broadcasters say “tonsillectomy and additional surgeries to open her airways”?
Karen Ann Quinlan was kept alive on a ventilator for months and that was believed to be the only thing keeping her alive.
She had had irreversible brain damage.
As such I felt this example was useful in answering the question about how long one can exist on ventilator.
Brain death was not defined at the time and the definition that later was first developed in 1981 was in large part due to her case.
FWIW, the facility in New York that has been in the news lately, New Beginnings, is an outpatient care center operated by a former hairdresser who offers a "holistic approach" to treating traumatic brain injuries. There's not a single MD on their board of directors. Their web site informs us that they are currently soliciting donations to pay for an electronically-opening door to the entrance of their office.
When brain cells die there is generally no bacterial decomposition. The dead brain cells are liquefied and digested by other cells and the empty spaces in the head are filled with liquid.
I knew a child who suffered prenatal strokes and there were large parts of his brain just not there any more, but since he was so young he did very well - normal intelligence, delayed motor function but normalizing by seven.
“Brain death” is different from some parts of the brain bein dead or dying - it refers to no brain waves, no brain reflexes, no breathing reflex.
If there WAS bacterial decomposition, there wouldn’t be these arguments and lawsuits. Death would be rapid and indisputable - cardiac death too. Bacterial meningitis is a fast killer.
Sorry for HIPPA.
My point stands no matter what the accurate acronym.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.