What are your thoughts on this Jahi McMath situation...

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Nov 22, 2002
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I think it's bizarre beyond the pale.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/01/health/jahi-mcmath-girl-brain-dead/index.html


(CNN) -- The family of Terri Schiavo has joined the battle over Jahi McMath, a 13-year-old girl on life support who has been declared dead by doctors.

"Together with our team of experts, Terri's Network believes Jahi's case is representative of a very deep problem within the U.S. healthcare system -- particularly those issues surrounding the deaths of patients within the confines of hospital corporations, which have a vested financial interest in discontinuing life," the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network said in a prepared statement.

The organization said it has been overseeing the efforts of several groups to help get Jahi transferred out of Children's Hospital Oakland and brought "to a safe place."

Jahi's family said Tuesday it had found a facility in New York willing to take her. The Oakland hospital "refused to agree to allow us to proceed in that matter," Jahi's uncle Omari Sealey said.

The hospital denied the accusation.

"We have done everything to assist the family of Jahi McMath in their quest to take the deceased body of their daughter to another medical facility," hospital spokesman Sam Singer said.

"To date, they have been unwilling or unable to provide a physician to perform the procedures necessary, transportation, or a facility that would accept a dead person on a ventilator. Our hearts and thoughts go out to them in this tragic situation, but the statements being made by their attorney and some family members are misleading and untrue."

Family attorney Christopher Dolan had accused the hospital of being "hell bent" on ending Jahi's life.

A judge has declared Jahi brain dead as well. Doctors say there's no chance she will come back to life.

Omari Sealey, Jahi's uncle, said Wednesday that the family still hopes to move her to another facility.

He accused the hospital of starving his niece by not using a feeding tube to provide her with nutrients.

Singer said a judge Tuesday had dismissed the family's request for additional medical procedures, including a feeding tube.

A deadline loomed Monday as a judge had said the hospital could disconnect the machines after 5 p.m. (8 p.m. ET). But shortly before Jahi could have been cut off, that same judge extended his order to 5 p.m. (8 p.m. ET) on January 7.

Terri Schiavo died in 2005, nearly two weeks after doctors removed the feeding tube that had sustained her for more than a decade. She was severely brain damaged and became a national focal point in the right-to-die battle.

Her husband and guardian, Michael Schiavo, said she wouldn't have wanted to live in her condition, which Florida courts deemed a "persistent vegetative state." Her parents fought to have her kept alive.

Schiavo's parents, brother and sister created the Life & Hope Network.

The statement Wednesday about Jahi included a quote from Bobby Schindler, Terri Schiavo's brother and executive director of the organization.

"Families and individuals must make themselves aware of what so-called 'brain death' is and what it is not," he said.

"Every person needs to understand that medical accidents happen every day. Families and individuals must be more aware of the issue of accountability and patient rights."

Last month, Jahi had surgery to remove her tonsils, adenoids and extra sinus tissue. Doctors had recommended the surgery to treat pediatric obstructive sleep apnea, a condition that made her stop breathing in her sleep and caused other medical problems.

Before the surgery, Jahi said she was worried that she would never wake up, according to her uncle. She seemed fine after the surgery and asked for a Popsicle because her throat hurt.

It wasn't long before something went terribly wrong. In the intensive care unit, the girl began bleeding profusely -- an image that her mother told CNN would be forever seared in her mind.

According to family members, Jahi went into cardiac arrest. Days later, she was declared brain dead.

Hospital officials have said privacy laws prevent them from discussing details of the case.
 
I think the family is pursuing a useless endeavor, but, as a strong believer in patient's rights, I think they have the right to do so.
 
The parents could keep this child's body this way for a long time as long as the money lasts, but who will be responsible for paying for it once they go?

This is the US, we have no plans in place for this kind of care.
 
I think the family is pursuing a useless endeavor, but, as a strong believer in patient's rights, I think they have the right to do so.

I think they are in serious denial. I also think it's criminal that they can sit there and accuse this hospital of being insensitive.

It's also obvious they are lying about having another place to take her.
 
Her brain is dead. Forcing air through her body does not mean she is "alive". Her organs have begun breaking down. She is dead. She is not in a vegetative state, she will never wake up.

Patient's rights? At whose expense? I don't see the point in wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars to delay the inevitable. Money that could be spent on research or to treat someone who has a chance of survival.

I feel for the family. A relatively routine surgery turned into one of the rare instances with complications. That must be devastating. But they aren't being realistic.
 
The parents could keep this child's body this way for a long time as long as the money lasts, but who will be responsible for paying for it once they go?

This is the US, we have no plans in place for this kind of care.

Who's paying for it now? The hospital is absorbing the costs yet they are made out to be the devil by the family.

I can't imagine the atmosphere around her in the hospital.


Nurses and doctors being forced to care for a dead person while the family sits there and criticizes them and the hospital pays for it. Lawyers hovering around like ghouls.
 
I think they are in serious denial. I also think it's criminal that they can sit there and accuse this hospital of being insensitive.

It's also obvious they are lying about having another place to take her.

Well, "insensitive" is an awfully subjective concept. They are skirting close to the line of actually accusing the hospital of malpractice, but it don't think they have crossed it.

They may not be lying about the other facility. There are plenty of places that are willing to maintain questionable standards when there is money in it.
 
I think it's horribly sad, and I hope that neither I nor any of my loved ones are ever forced into this kind of decision. No one can ever be truly prepared for it.
 
I feel for the family. A relatively routine surgery turned into one of the rare instances with complications. That must be devastating. But they aren't being realistic.

It is a sad and tragic situation we wouldn't wish on any family. Now, the family's grief is being manipulated by forces pushing a socio-political agenda. Shame on them.
 
Well, "insensitive" is an awfully subjective concept. They are skirting close to the line of actually accusing the hospital of malpractice, but it don't think they have crossed it.

They may not be lying about the other facility. There are plenty of places that are willing to maintain questionable standards when there is money in it.

Well it's obvious they have no money to do this and no ones accepting her. She's dead.
 
According to one article, the family says their insurance company is willing to pay for the cost, which I find hard to believe.

I think they are in denial about her being dead, and bet there will be a lawsuit coming.
 
I think it is very, very sad. The young girl they loved dearly is brain dead.
Her body is just a shell being kept alive by machines.

This was a terrible tragedy that was unexpected for a fairly simple procedure.


I have had discussions with my sons and bigrednz about the subject of DNR's and what their wishes are for medical intervention if they are injured and have severe brain damage or are brain dead. It sounds morbid. But as a family we all know what we do or don't want done if the worst happens.

I will respect their wishes and they will do so with mine.


Another news story I have been reading:

"The mother of a brain-dead pregnant Fort Worth woman being kept alive by a ventilator has joined her son-in-law's calls to end life support.
Lynne Machado says she was shocked to learn her state left the family powerless to carry out their daughter Marlise Munoz's wish to never be dependent on a ventilator because she is pregnant."

"Per Texas state law: ‘A person may not withdraw or withhold life-sustaining treatment under this subchapter from a pregnant patient."




http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...wants-pregnant-wife-Marlise-life-support.html
 
On the other hand the law is an obstacle to the liberal's appetite to kill everyone.
 
From the Desk of President Obama:

Quality of Life + Ability to to contribute to the future tax base = End of Life Counseling

(No, it is not a Death Panel. It is a cost-benefit analysis.)
__________________
"The primary function of regulation in health care, especially as it affects the quality of medical care, is to constrain decentralized, individualized decision making."
Donald Berwick
Death Panel Czar
 
Another news story I have been reading:

"The mother of a brain-dead pregnant Fort Worth woman being kept alive by a ventilator has joined her son-in-law's calls to end life support.
Lynne Machado says she was shocked to learn her state left the family powerless to carry out their daughter Marlise Munoz's wish to never be dependent on a ventilator because she is pregnant."

"Per Texas state law: ‘A person may not withdraw or withhold life-sustaining treatment under this subchapter from a pregnant patient."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...wants-pregnant-wife-Marlise-life-support.html
as a mother, i'd want them to keep blood pumping through me until my baby was developed enough to be saved. if I was already dead it wouldn't hurt or harm me.

but I can see how it could seem obscene to others... but if the daughter had known she'd be pregnant when the subject arose, would she have made the same choice? it's a tough call but I think i'd go with the state having made the right call.

depressing stuff.
 
as a mother, i'd want them to keep blood pumping through me until my baby was developed enough to be saved. if I was already dead it wouldn't hurt or harm me.

but I can see how it could seem obscene to others... but if the daughter had known she'd be pregnant when the subject arose, would she have made the same choice? it's a tough call but I think i'd go with the state having made the right call.

depressing stuff.

I actually find that extraordinary and worthwhile.

I find the McMath situation ghoulish and disgusting.
 
as a mother, i'd want them to keep blood pumping through me until my baby was developed enough to be saved. if I was already dead it wouldn't hurt or harm me.

but I can see how it could seem obscene to others... but if the daughter had known she'd be pregnant when the subject arose, would she have made the same choice? it's a tough call but I think i'd go with the state having made the right call.

depressing stuff.

If you really want Rick Perry making the call for you, well I have no words for how naive you must be.
 
I find it... understandable.

some people cannot face the realities of death. even the sticky beaks who are bank rolling this are being driven by deep grief and fear of death. emotion can blind people to reason.

the hospital are in a no win situation. they're wasting staff, space, equipment, money and time on keeping a lump of meat warm. sad but true. but you can't tell this to a traumatised family.
 
If you really want Rick Perry making the call for you, well I have no words for how naive you must be.

I don't know or care who perry is. I somehow doubt he holds much sway over uk medical policy.

if my view on the rights and wrongs of dnr orders and pregnancy offend your political leanings then that's your issue.
 
I find it... understandable.

some people cannot face the realities of death. even the sticky beaks who are bank rolling this are being driven by deep grief and fear of death. emotion can blind people to reason.

the hospital are in a no win situation. they're wasting staff, space, equipment, money and time on keeping a lump of meat warm. sad but true. but you can't tell this to a traumatised family.

And yet I just saw a spokesman for the McMath family....a cousin I believe who said that if the hospital had not spent so much money on lawyers and security at the hospital they could have paid for the move of the girl.

Can you fucking imagine having the gall to say that? Blaming the hospital for not paying for her to be moved????

Who the fuck do these people think they are.
 
That about sums it up. Sad.

Thats what it started as. Now it's all about the excitement and the thrill of being involved in something other than sitting at home and watching wendy williams.

It's dramatic, sad, exciting, different, new, and the tv!

Humans are very strange people.

I imagine they will have a reality show soon enough.

I think they need to be looked at for child abuse but she's physically and legally dead so I don't know if thats even possible.
 
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