Life Support Cutoff Looms for Brain Dead California Teen

[Purveyor]

Source: ABC News Radio

(OAKLAND, Calif.) -- Time is running out for the family of a brain dead California teenager as it scrambles to find a facility to take her before the court order keeping her on life support expires Monday.

Jahi McMath, 13, was declared brain dead following a surgery to remove her tonsils and adenoids on Dec. 9.

An Oakland judge ruled last week that the hospital could remove Jahi from life support only after the family had time to appeal or make other arraignments.

Despite multiple doctors agreeing that Jahi is brain dead, her family has battled the Children's Hospital Oakland to keep her on life support.

Read more: http://www.wtma.com/common/more.php?m=58&ts=1388433002&article=79FB8D1F718911E3B51EFEFDADE6840A&mode=2

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Jahi McMath Life Support Expires At 5 P.M. At Oakland Hospital, Family Of Brain-Dead Girl Will ‘Fight Until The Very Last Second’

At 5 p.m. Monday, Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland in Northern California will remove 13-year-old Jahi McMath from life support when a court order to keep the Oakland teen on a ventilator expires. McMath was put on a breathing machine earlier this month after a routine tonsillectomy left her brain-dead.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Jahi’s family is struggling to find a new hospital that will take the girl in before Monday’s deadline. Several hospitals in California have declined their requests, and the family’s attorney is now talking with a care center in New York.

more...

http://www.ibtimes.com/jahi-mcmath-life-support-expires-5-pm-oakland-hospital-family-brain-dead-girl-will-fight-until-very

[FarPoint]

1. My heart goes out to the family.

I understand their hope but it's time to let the body rest.

[hlthe2b]

4. The shock of such an unexpected death is only compounded by

the pressure to "accept" the death and move on. While there is clearly no hope for the young woman, it is very sad that the family can't come to their own acceptance with a little less pressure and forced time table. I think they might not have dug in their heels and wasted all their energies on trying to find an alternative institution, rather than availing themselves of the opportunity to say goodbye, if things had been handled a bit differently.

Sad, truly.

[FarPoint]

7. So well said my friend.

May peace find this family.

[sdfernando]

9. It is heartbreaking for sure

but brain dead is dead. As hard as it is they should accept that their daughter is dead and make arrangements to donate as many of her organs as possible. Then know that her death has saved so many other lives and find some measure of comfort in that.

[leftyohiolib]

2. the hospital's trying to save it's ass in the lawsuit. if she's dead the most the hospital will have

to pay is 250,000.00

[MsPithy]

5. She is dead.

Condolences to the family.

[XemaSab]

6. Children's is a great hospital

They save living children every single day.

For them to keep a dead person in one of their 131 beds is preventing them from helping living children.

[cosmicone]

15. It is one of the best pediatric hospitals

in California if not in the world.

For every adverse outcome, they have had hundreds of positive outcomes. Medicine is unpredictable and no doctor/hospital can control all the variables.

[TDale313]

3. Such a heartbreaking story.

I hope the family can find some peace and comfort.

[aaaaaa5a]

8. How is time running out? She's already dead.

I honestly feel very sad for the loved ones involved. But the hype for this story has been driven by a media more interest in tugging at heart strings than reporting facts.

[alp227]

10. Better source, the Oakland Tribune

http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_24815775/jahi-mcmath-oakland-brain-dead-girl-could-be

[heaven05]

11. Karen Anne Quinlan

was hospitalized in New Jersey for a very long time. Why isn't the lawyer(s) using her as precedent until a facility can be found? Quinlan was in New Jersey, would it make any difference?

[LiberalElite]

12. Karen Anne Quinlan

was in a "persistent vegetative state", not brain dead.

[heaven05]

13. big difference, huh?

[LiberalElite]

14. Karen Anne Quinlan was still alive -

Jahi McMath is dead. Yes, a BIG difference.

[Chemisse]

18. Actually, yes.

[catbyte]

33. It's totally different. The article says that blood flow to her brain has stopped.

There is no hope for recovery for this poor child. None. They are trying to reanimate a corpse. If blood flow to the brain has stopped, what about decomposition? It's awful to think about, but can a ventilator really keep everything going?

[karynnj]

16. Very different case

I lived in Morris County NJ then and will never forget that haunting story of a girl a bit younger than me. In that case, the hospital that she was taken to and the larger hospital she was transferred to would not let the family take her off the ventilator. They initially had wanted her on support, but when it seemed clear that there was no hope, with the support of their Catholic bishop, they filed to have live support removed. This was called "right to die". They ended up winning the right, but Karen Anne was able to breathe.

She was then moved to a nursing home where she lived many years, never regaining any cognitive abilities. (At that point, the family supported providing nourishment - seeing that as standard rather than extraordinary care.).

In that case, you had a woman who was comatose, but she did retain some lower level brain function which controlled breathing.

[JNinWB]

19. Can you imagine!

"Let's send Mom to SunnySide Nursing Home---where they warehouse dead bodies!"

[marble falls]

20. A bit over the top, maybe?

[JNinWB]

22. I could have said...

no reputable, long term care facility will accept a dead person to care for.

[marble falls]

24. And that would be a reasonable statement. I agree, no reputable health care would keep ...

a corpse on a machine giving false hope to the survivors.

[Chemisse]

17. I'm glad they got a little more time to make absolutely sure there was no hope.

But now it's time to let her go.

I can't fathom how hard this is for that poor family.

[davidpdx]

34. I agree

Now that there is no hope it's time to let her go. It is so sad.

[mconnors]

21. God Bless her Soul

If there is a silver liner in this is she might be able to help many other people that are waiting for organs. She might be able to save many lives.

[displacedtexan]

23. The story on the local news (SF KRON 4) changed this morning.

It was first reported that the surgery was a routine tonsillectomy/ adenoid procedure, but this morning a hospital spokesperson claimed it wasn't routine but actually a seriously risky operation.

Kinda made me go Hmmmmmmm because KRON has covered this every day, and the story was that the mother was told that some bleeding and blood clots were normal after such surgery, and the staff taught her how to help her daughter with the blood clots. When the bleeding wouldn't stop, the tragic events escalated.

I have a hard time believing that a mother would be put in charge of her daughter's care after a "seriously risky" operation. But that's just me wondering why the story changed this morning, of all days.

[riderinthestorm]

25. Any medical procedure carries risk. My sister coded during a colonoscopy

Her liver and kidneys were destroyed (she's now 18 months post-op from a double transplant and doing fine) but the bottom line remains that any surgery is risky.

[VanillaRhapsody]

29. Oh thanks you just scared the bejeesus out of me...

I am scheduled for my first....having only recently been put "under" for the first time for surgery on a broken wrist.

Now I am even more afraid! THANKS!

[rocktivity]

26. I've seen reports that her overall problem was sleep apnea

(not uncommon when you're obese) and the operation consisted of other procedures along with the tonsillectomy. So yes, those who described it as a "routine" either got it wrong or thought it would make for a "better" story.

However, am I to believe that NOBODY at the hospital knows the difference between "some bleeding" and hemorrhaging so much that her heart ran out of blood to pump?


rocktivity

[VanillaRhapsody]

30. tonsilectomy and adnoid removal are routine....done every day.

they don't always do the adnoid...but often do.

[displacedtexan]

27. The date has been postponed until Jan. 7th.

Just saw it on the local news.

[Mr.Bill]

28. Great. Now the wingnuts

will blame her death on the Death Panels and Obamacare. I'm not being flippant. If you saw some of the websites I see, you would know I am totally serious.

[davidpdx]

35. I believe it too

It would be beneath them to use their poor girl's situation to try to make a political statement.

[JNinWB]

31. Gives the family eight more days for fundraising!

[JNinWB]

32. I read this in the LAT:

There has been broad consensus for decades that “irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brainstem” constitutes one of two legal definitions of death. (The other is “irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions.”) A Harvard Medical School committee first put forth the standard in 1968, and in 1981 a presidential council proposed a uniform statute to be adopted nationwide.

It was endorsed by the American Medical Assn., the American Bar Assn. and the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, which published it as the “Uniform Determination of Death Act.” California has such a statute. Another presidential council that took up the issue in 2008 reaffirmed that “whole brain death” is legal death.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-jahi-mcmath-brain-dead-case-20131230,0,4012633.story#ixzz2p0kIxvF1