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Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,757
Registered: ‎11-28-2012

Re: Judge says the teen who was declared brain dead 3 years ago may technically be alive. OMG.

As much as I cannot agree with this mother, it is her religious beliefs that keep her from believing her daughter is dead. From what I've read, she does not expect her to wake up and lead a normal life. She believes as long as her heart is beating she is alive.

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Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Judge says the teen who was declared brain dead 3 years ago may technically be alive. OMG.

These decisions need to be made by qualified medical experts, not by a judge or jury. In this case, it's clear the poor girl is clinically brain dead. I don't think valuable medical resources should be spent on her care. If her family is hoping for a miracle, it would happen regardless of whether she was hooked up to machines. There comes a time when family can't make medical decisions. What if a family decides a loved needs repeated surgeries or inappropriate medications? 

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Posts: 21,733
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Judge says the teen who was declared brain dead 3 years ago may technically be alive. OMG.


@ALRATIBA wrote:

@suzyQ3 wrote:

@ALRATIBA wrote:

@suzyQ3

 

Daily Mail article dated May 17, 2011.  By Kate Allatt

 

Headline:  "Doctor said I was brain dead, I wanted to scream, but all I could do is blink"

 


@ALRATIBA, can you please provide a link so that I can read it? That headline sounds as if it would fit right in on the National Enquirer or other tabloids I see when I'm in the checkout line.


@suzyQ3

 

Just google the headline ... it comes right up.  It's a UK newspaper, The Daily Mail ... health column.  Lots of other articles come up.

 

There a belief among some that some doctors are in a rush to declare brain death so they can harvest organs.  


@ALRATIBA, is the above italized sentence your words or from the article?


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Posts: 5,354
Registered: ‎07-17-2010

Re: Judge says the teen who was declared brain dead 3 years ago may technically be alive. OMG.

I'm sorry, @goldensrbest.



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Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,707
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Judge says the teen who was declared brain dead 3 years ago may technically be alive. OMG.


@muttmom wrote:

As much as I cannot agree with this mother, it is her religious beliefs that keep her from believing her daughter is dead. From what I've read, she does not expect her to wake up and lead a normal life. She believes as long as her heart is beating she is alive.


Whether my opinion about the mother's religious beliefs is right or wrong to others I feel that if she is a true believer she would allow the machines to be disconnected and let Jahi's heart beat on its own or stop beating.  There is nothing sacred about mechanically keeping a heart beating to make a claim of life.  Understandably she does not want to let go.

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Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Judge says the teen who was declared brain dead 3 years ago may technically be alive. OMG.

What happens when Jahi becomes 18? Does the state have the power to decide?

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Posts: 3,580
Registered: ‎06-03-2010

Re: Judge says the teen who was declared brain dead 3 years ago may technically be alive. OMG.

@missy1  That is a good question, I wonder if becoming 18 changes anything in regards to her care?



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Registered: ‎12-08-2013

Re: Judge says the teen who was declared brain dead 3 years ago may technically be alive. OMG.


@CAcableGirl2 wrote:

@missy1  That is a good question, I wonder if becoming 18 changes anything in regards to her care?


I don't think so @CAcableGirl2 and @missy1, at least not in IL.  We recently went through this with my young adult niece.  The family still made all decisions as to when to remove life support, though there was no dispute in this case.  

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Registered: ‎01-04-2016

Re: Judge says the teen who was declared brain dead 3 years ago may technically be alive. OMG.

[ Edited ]

Won't this create a dangerous precedent?  What if someone's elderly father was in  a vegetative state but the kids wanted him alive on life support. Where is the line drawn? 

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Registered: ‎03-14-2015

Re: Judge says the teen who was declared brain dead 3 years ago may technically be alive. OMG.

I would think that IF the elderly father had made his wishes known via a living will, and other official documents, that that would supersede whatever the adult kids wanted.