Jahi McMath...family petitioning to declare her alive

[Deleted]

I just looked at the picture that msmerrymac posted.

She's not intubated. I thought she was intubated.

ETA: Ok I looked at the video and see it looks like she has a tracheostomy. 

[mouse]

Oct 4, 2014 9:58:56 GMT -5 isabel said:

So, I really do think this girl is brain dead, but IF she did have some lower brain stem activity, was capable of slight twitches or maybe opening her eyes, does that mean she can think? Is this girl laying there having thoughts and trying to respond to stimulus? Because if so, that is so fucked up on her parents end. The poor thing is not going to get better and she's just trapped.

Didn't they find Terri Schiavo's brain was essentially missing its neurons? I don't think awareness or thought is possible at that point.

Eta: I bring up TS because she did seem to respond to stimulus and wasn't entirely brain dead. But there wasn't anything happening in there, nor was recovery possible.

[Deleted]

Oct 4, 2014 10:14:50 GMT -5 mouse said:

Oct 4, 2014 9:58:56 GMT -5 isabel said:

So, I really do think this girl is brain dead, but IF she did have some lower brain stem activity, was capable of slight twitches or maybe opening her eyes, does that mean she can think? Is this girl laying there having thoughts and trying to respond to stimulus? Because if so, that is so fucked up on her parents end. The poor thing is not going to get better and she's just trapped.

Didn't they find Terri Schiavo's brain was essentially missing its neurons? I don't think awareness or thought is possible at that point.

Eta: I bring up TS because she did seem to respond to stimulus and wasn't entirely brain dead. But there wasn't anything happening in there, nor was recovery possible.

I don't believe Terry Schiavo was given the diagnosis of brain death. I believe they said she was in a persistent/permanent vegetative state. People like that can survive without intubation, etc, they pretty much just need to be fed. Their lower brain stem is usually intact, so they can breath, twitch, open eyes, have sleep-wake cycles, etc. But there is still no conscious thought process going on.

That is different than brain death. At least how it is defined and understood today. 

[aurora]

Oct 4, 2014 10:20:20 GMT -5 @wandering said:

Oct 4, 2014 10:14:50 GMT -5 mouse said:

Didn't they find Terri Schiavo's brain was essentially missing its neurons? I don't think awareness or thought is possible at that point.

Eta: I bring up TS because she did seem to respond to stimulus and wasn't entirely brain dead. But there wasn't anything happening in there, nor was recovery possible.

I don't believe Terry Schiavo was given the diagnosis of brain death. I believe they said she was in a persistent/permanent vegetative state. People like that can survive without intubation, etc, they pretty much just need to be fed. Their lower brain stem is usually intact, so they can breath, twitch, open eyes, have sleep-wake cycles, etc. But there is still no conscious thought process going on.

That is different than brain death. At least how it is defined and understood today. 

That's my recollection, too. ETA - about TS.

I still don't feel like this is a situation I can judge. But, maybe some good will eventually come out of it if it leads to improved understanding of brain death.

[ESF]

Oct 4, 2014 10:20:20 GMT -5 @wandering said:

Oct 4, 2014 10:14:50 GMT -5 mouse said:

Didn't they find Terri Schiavo's brain was essentially missing its neurons? I don't think awareness or thought is possible at that point.

Eta: I bring up TS because she did seem to respond to stimulus and wasn't entirely brain dead. But there wasn't anything happening in there, nor was recovery possible.

I don't believe Terry Schiavo was given the diagnosis of brain death. I believe they said she was in a persistent/permanent vegetative state. People like that can survive without intubation, etc, they pretty much just need to be fed. Their lower brain stem is usually intact, so they can breath, twitch, open eyes, have sleep-wake cycles, etc. But there is still no conscious thought process going on.

That is different than brain death. At least how it is defined and understood today. 

Yes, I know that Schiavo's diagnosis was different. I was only giving that example to illustrate how videos can be manipulated. It may be that she's moving (?) but we don't know when and there's know way to tell from a clip whether the movement is in response to commands, or was taken recently.

Eta - I'm an idiot. I thought you were responding to me but I see someone else made the same point.

[SKP82]

Oct 4, 2014 9:19:45 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

I'm not going to watch the video but we can't know that the video is from very recently versus shortly after she was declared brain dead, correct? Or do they do anything showing proof the video is from recently (speaking about current events, holding up a recent newspaper, etc.)? Sounds silly but I can't help but wonder.

In the 1st video linked in that article, there is a sign on the wall that says "Happy Mother's Day."

[Deleted]

Oct 4, 2014 9:22:28 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Oct 4, 2014 9:13:05 GMT -5 @linzercookie said:

My DH is a neurologist and I asked him about this.



4) Given point 2, there may be neurologists willing to say, OK, maybe she's not brain dead in the strictest sense. But given point 3, an overwhelming number of doctors would say this is futile and, frankly, abuse.

This is my understanding. Even if she isn't completely brain dead, she is not going to recover. She is not going to walk or be wheeled out of that hospital. She will not be able to function without machines doing it all for her. This poor child needs to be let go. The parents are torturing her and her family, and they need serious mental help.

I feel bad for the family. I don't necessarily think they're "crazy" or need serious medical help. I think grief is a long process, grief counseling would help. Obviously their child isn't ever going to be like she was before.

People are in denial when 80 year old grandma with comorbid conditions is in the dying phase and want to do everything possible to save them, so I can't imagine how a family copes with a young healthy child in such a situation. 

[Jalapeñomel]

Oct 4, 2014 10:30:59 GMT -5 @wandering said:

Oct 4, 2014 9:22:28 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

This is my understanding. Even if she isn't completely brain dead, she is not going to recover. She is not going to walk or be wheeled out of that hospital. She will not be able to function without machines doing it all for her. This poor child needs to be let go. The parents are torturing her and her family, and they need serious mental help.

I feel bad for the family. I don't necessarily think they're "crazy" or need serious medical help. I think grief is a long process, grief counseling would help. Obviously their child isn't ever going to be like she was before.

People are in denial when 80 year old grandma with comorbid conditions is in the dying phase and want to do everything possible to save them, so I can't imagine how a family copes with a young healthy child in such a situation. 

I don't think they are crazy.  I do think that they need serious therapy to deal with their grief.  There is good reason why they have support groups for grieving people; grief does all kinds of stuff to people.  

[mouse]

Oct 4, 2014 10:20:20 GMT -5 @wandering said:

Oct 4, 2014 10:14:50 GMT -5 mouse said:

Didn't they find Terri Schiavo's brain was essentially missing its neurons? I don't think awareness or thought is possible at that point.

Eta: I bring up TS because she did seem to respond to stimulus and wasn't entirely brain dead. But there wasn't anything happening in there, nor was recovery possible.

I don't believe Terry Schiavo was given the diagnosis of brain death. I believe they said she was in a persistent/permanent vegetative state. People like that can survive without intubation, etc, they pretty much just need to be fed. Their lower brain stem is usually intact, so they can breath, twitch, open eyes, have sleep-wake cycles, etc. But there is still no conscious thought process going on.

That is different than brain death. At least how it is defined and understood today. 

I'm not sure if you saw my ETA, but that's part of my point. Even if turns out Jahi was misdiagnosed and still has some lower brain activity, from what I've gathered that doesn't mean awareness is possible.

I feel like with vegetative states the argument shifts to quality of life, but to me that would mean a person is still in there who would be capable of communicating, but can't. That doesn't seem possible without neurons. So the family's insistence that "not brain dead" means something seems misplaced.

[bellewithablade]

Oct 3, 2014 21:02:53 GMT -5 kme said:

Oct 3, 2014 20:53:40 GMT -5 @majorwife said:

so if she were brain dead, there wouldnt be seizure like activity, correct? the second video with the cup just looks like spasms to me. look at the way her hand forms a claw

Correct. Nothing. No seizures. No jerking. No movement. I have also never seen a brain dead person who develops contractions either. They are flaccid.

That is not correct, following brain death you will still see spinal pulses causing muscle contractions.  You have never seen a brain dead person form contractures because we do not let them sit on a vent indefinitely.  Contractures take time to develop.  This is why we are so aggressive splinting those with para or tetraplegia to prevent contractures.  Contractures are tightening of various ligaments when there is not repeated muscle contractions to keep the joint supple.  You can certainly have contractures from individuals with severe spasm, but that is not the same type of contracture you see here or in a flaccid individual folloiwng brain injury.  You try to splint in the position which will keep all the ligaments in their most stretched out position to prevent this contracture.  In the hand, which is part of my specialty, we call this the position of function, or the "safe" position with the MCP's at 90 degrees and the PIP and DIP in full extension.  Wrist in slight extension. You will see some perfusion on a brain dead person's scan eventually becuase after the brain dies and there is acute high ICP the brain cells with atrophy and then eventually you will have some perfusion.  Think of a severe DAI or TBI of other sort with edema, it resolves, and perfusion improves, but the brain does not recover.  She is dead, period, full stop.  This has to stop.  I have fairly extensive experience with trauma and TBI and this case is disgusting.  We all feel horrible for this parent, but we cannot allow this to continue.  It has the potential to damage the public's faith in physicians further.  There has NEVER been a documented case of one who was pronounced brain dead following the criteria like this child was "recover.  Dead is dead.  

[pinkeggs]

Oct 4, 2014 16:20:23 GMT -5 bellewithablade said:

Oct 3, 2014 21:02:53 GMT -5 kme said:

Correct. Nothing. No seizures. No jerking. No movement. I have also never seen a brain dead person who develops contractions either. They are flaccid.

That is not correct, following brain death you will still see spinal pulses causing muscle contractions.  You have never seen a brain dead person form contractures because we do not let them sit on a vent indefinitely.  Contractures take time to develop.  This is why we are so aggressive splinting those with para or tetraplegia to prevent contractures.  Contractures are tightening of various ligaments when there is not repeated muscle contractions to keep the joint supple.  You can certainly have contractures from individuals with severe spasm, but that is not the same type of contracture you see here or in a flaccid individual folloiwng brain injury.  You try to splint in the position which will keep all the ligaments in their most stretched out position to prevent this contracture.  In the hand, which is part of my specialty, we call this the position of function, or the "safe" position with the MCP's at 90 degrees and the PIP and DIP in full extension.  Wrist in slight extension. You will see some perfusion on a brain dead person's scan eventually becuase after the brain dies and there is acute high ICP the brain cells with atrophy and then eventually you will have some perfusion.  Think of a severe DAI or TBI of other sort with edema, it resolves, and perfusion improves, but the brain does not recover.  She is dead, period, full stop.  This has to stop.  I have fairly extensive experience with trauma and TBI and this case is disgusting.  We all feel horrible for this parent, but we cannot allow this to continue.  It has the potential to damage the public's faith in physicians further.  There has NEVER been a documented case of one who was pronounced brain dead following the criteria like this child was "recover.  Dead is dead.  

[audry80]

I was on a ventilator for 12 days with only a memory of one day. That one day was the worst day of my life. Even if she isn't brain dead, I could not imagine living a life on a ventilator.

It's a very sad situation.

[kme]

Oct 4, 2014 16:20:23 GMT -5 bellewithablade said:

Oct 3, 2014 21:02:53 GMT -5 kme said:

Correct. Nothing. No seizures. No jerking. No movement. I have also never seen a brain dead person who develops contractions either. They are flaccid.

That is not correct, following brain death you will still see spinal pulses causing muscle contractions.  You have never seen a brain dead person form contractures because we do not let them sit on a vent indefinitely.  Contractures take time to develop.  This is why we are so aggressive splinting those with para or tetraplegia to prevent contractures.  Contractures are tightening of various ligaments when there is not repeated muscle contractions to keep the joint supple.  You can certainly have contractures from individuals with severe spasm, but that is not the same type of contracture you see here or in a flaccid individual folloiwng brain injury.  You try to splint in the position which will keep all the ligaments in their most stretched out position to prevent this contracture.  In the hand, which is part of my specialty, we call this the position of function, or the "safe" position with the MCP's at 90 degrees and the PIP and DIP in full extension.  Wrist in slight extension. You will see some perfusion on a brain dead person's scan eventually becuase after the brain dies and there is acute high ICP the brain cells with atrophy and then eventually you will have some perfusion.  Think of a severe DAI or TBI of other sort with edema, it resolves, and perfusion improves, but the brain does not recover.  She is dead, period, full stop.  This has to stop.  I have fairly extensive experience with trauma and TBI and this case is disgusting.  We all feel horrible for this parent, but we cannot allow this to continue.  It has the potential to damage the public's faith in physicians further.  There has NEVER been a documented case of one who was pronounced brain dead following the criteria like this child was "recover.  Dead is dead.  

I get the point you're trying to make but everything you referenced is in regards to TBI/anoxia. You said yourself we don't keep brain dead patients so it's hard to make a case what they would/wouldn't be like. Ive just never seen it- doesnt mean it cant occur. We've never had a case to reference so this is all new territory.

You are right, brain death patients can have a Lazarus sign. It doesn't occur in all patients. But to have it, you need direct contact with the patient to illicit that response. In this case, there was no direct contact - it was all verbal (that we could see). The movements she exhibited do not match Lazarus sign. In the second video, towards the end, youll see she doesnt twitch see - she has gross motor movements which is NOT what you see when your nerves fire. Brain dead people move "slightly". That is not slight. It even looks like she moves her head.


This does intrigue me more. I would like to see an independent exam on film. I do think the family has enough info for the court to hear.

The scary thing is, what if the MDs were wrong? We can't just believe things because we don't want to know the truth.

One last thing, I do think it's awful no matter if she's "brain dead" or not. It's futile. It's cruel. It's disgusting. But keeping people like this alive isn't something that hasn't been seen before.

[Jermys]

Oct 4, 2014 16:20:23 GMT -5 bellewithablade said:

That is not correct, following brain death you will still see spinal pulses causing muscle contractions.  You have never seen a brain dead person form contractures because we do not let them sit on a vent indefinitely.  Contractures take time to develop.  This is why we are so aggressive splinting those with para or tetraplegia to prevent contractures.  Contractures are tightening of various ligaments when there is not repeated muscle contractions to keep the joint supple.  You can certainly have contractures from individuals with severe spasm, but that is not the same type of contracture you see here or in a flaccid individual folloiwng brain injury.  You try to splint in the position which will keep all the ligaments in their most stretched out position to prevent this contracture.  In the hand, which is part of my specialty, we call this the position of function, or the "safe" position with the MCP's at 90 degrees and the PIP and DIP in full extension.  Wrist in slight extension. You will see some perfusion on a brain dead person's scan eventually becuase after the brain dies and there is acute high ICP the brain cells with atrophy and then eventually you will have some perfusion.  Think of a severe DAI or TBI of other sort with edema, it resolves, and perfusion improves, but the brain does not recover.  She is dead, period, full stop.  This has to stop.  I have fairly extensive experience with trauma and TBI and this case is disgusting.  We all feel horrible for this parent, but we cannot allow this to continue.  It has the potential to damage the public's faith in physicians further.  There has NEVER been a documented case of one who was pronounced brain dead following the criteria like this child was "recover.  Dead is dead.  

[bellewithablade]

Oct 4, 2014 17:57:43 GMT -5 kme said:

Oct 4, 2014 16:20:23 GMT -5 bellewithablade said:

I get the point you're trying to make but everything you referenced is in regards to TBI/anoxia. You said yourself we don't keep brain dead patients so it's hard to make a case what they would/wouldn't be like. Ive just never seen it- doesnt mean it cant occur. We've never had a case to reference so this is all new territory.

You are right, brain death patients can have a Lazarus sign. It doesn't occur in all patients. But to have it, you need direct contact with the patient to illicit that response. In this case, there was no direct contact - it was all verbal (that we could see). The movements she exhibited do not match Lazarus sign. In the second video, towards the end, youll see she doesnt twitch see - she has gross motor movements which is NOT what you see when your nerves fire. Brain dead people move "slightly". That is not slight. It even looks like she moves her head.


This does intrigue me more. I would like to see an independent exam on film. I do think the family has enough info for the court to hear.

The scary thing is, what if the MDs were wrong? We can't just believe things because we don't want to know the truth.

One last thing, I do think it's awful no matter if she's "brain dead" or not. It's futile. It's cruel. It's disgusting. But keeping people like this alive isn't something that hasn't been seen before.

It is possible for a physician to be wrong, which is why to declare brain death there has to be more then one exam by two separate teams.  In this case, in addition to the two at a VERY well respected children's hopsital, it was confirmed by the chief of pediatric neurology at Stanford.  We know the truth, the truth is the child is dead.  Again, there has never been a case of a person who was properly declared brain dead not actually being dead.  You actually do get gross, large motor movements sometimes with brain death, that is the Lazarus sign you refered to.  I actually had it happen to me when I was doing an apnea test as an intern and it scared the shit out of me.




en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazarus_sign

[kellsbelles]

Oct 4, 2014 9:13:05 GMT -5 @linzercookie said:

My DH is a neurologist and I asked him about this.

He said: 1) Even a brain dead body can have movement from the spinal cord that's independent of the brain. Whether that movement can occur even a year later is sort of uncharted territory but theoretically possible.

2) Our tools for determining brain death are rather crude. It is possible, for instance, that she still has brain activity at the base of the brain stem; it's really hard to reach the lowest part with current technology.

3) She's not going to recover further; this is it. From a medical ethics standpoint, we're spending millions of dollars to take care of someone who may be, at best, "slightly not dead," as he put it.

4) Given point 2, there may be neurologists willing to say, OK, maybe she's not brain dead in the strictest sense. But given point 3, an overwhelming number of doctors would say this is futile and, frankly, abuse.

My husband is a neurosurgeon and pretty much dittoed w your husband said. I also showed him those videos and he said it looks like an involuntary reflex. She didn't follow commands or wiggle her toes. Such a sad story for everyone involved

[Deleted]

Oct 4, 2014 16:20:23 GMT -5 bellewithablade said:

Oct 3, 2014 21:02:53 GMT -5 kme said:

Correct. Nothing. No seizures. No jerking. No movement. I have also never seen a brain dead person who develops contractions either. They are flaccid.

That is not correct, following brain death you will still see spinal pulses causing muscle contractions.  You have never seen a brain dead person form contractures because we do not let them sit on a vent indefinitely.  Contractures take time to develop.  This is why we are so aggressive splinting those with para or tetraplegia to prevent contractures.  Contractures are tightening of various ligaments when there is not repeated muscle contractions to keep the joint supple.  You can certainly have contractures from individuals with severe spasm, but that is not the same type of contracture you see here or in a flaccid individual folloiwng brain injury.  You try to splint in the position which will keep all the ligaments in their most stretched out position to prevent this contracture.  In the hand, which is part of my specialty, we call this the position of function, or the "safe" position with the MCP's at 90 degrees and the PIP and DIP in full extension.  Wrist in slight extension. You will see some perfusion on a brain dead person's scan eventually becuase after the brain dies and there is acute high ICP the brain cells with atrophy and then eventually you will have some perfusion.  Think of a severe DAI or TBI of other sort with edema, it resolves, and perfusion improves, but the brain does not recover.  She is dead, period, full stop.  This has to stop.  I have fairly extensive experience with trauma and TBI and this case is disgusting.  We all feel horrible for this parent, but we cannot allow this to continue.  It has the potential to damage the public's faith in physicians further.  There has NEVER been a documented case of one who was pronounced brain dead following the criteria like this child was "recover.  Dead is dead.  

Oh snap. What kind of doctor are you? 

[bellewithablade]

Oct 4, 2014 18:18:57 GMT -5 @wandering said:

Oct 4, 2014 16:20:23 GMT -5 bellewithablade said:

Oh snap. What kind of doctor are you? 

I'm a plastic and reconstructive surgeon so I do a lot of hand, facial, and complex wound trauma still.  I trained the old fashioned way so I am a fully trained general surgeon too.  You are in med school right?  What year are you?

[Deleted]

Oct 4, 2014 18:21:13 GMT -5 bellewithablade said:

Oct 4, 2014 18:18:57 GMT -5 @wandering said:

Oh snap. What kind of doctor are you? 

I'm a plastic and reconstructive surgeon so I do a lot of hand, facial, and complex wound trauma still.  I trained the old fashioned way so I am a fully trained general surgeon too.  You are in med school right?  What year are you?

Yep! I'm a 4th year. 
I really liked my 2 months of surgery, which helped me decide to do ob/gyn. 

[Deleted]

I'd be more inclined not to judge the family if they were accepting of the fact that her condition is permanent and will never improve. Instead, they keep trying to insist that she's going to get better if only the state weren't so cruel.

[bellewithablade]

Oct 4, 2014 18:32:37 GMT -5 @wandering said:

Oct 4, 2014 18:21:13 GMT -5 bellewithablade said:

I'm a plastic and reconstructive surgeon so I do a lot of hand, facial, and complex wound trauma still.  I trained the old fashioned way so I am a fully trained general surgeon too.  You are in med school right?  What year are you?

Yep! I'm a 4th year. 
I really liked my 2 months of surgery, which helped me decide to do ob/gyn. 

Oh sweet, you are on the launching pad!  I loved OB too, especially high risk.

[BeagleMama]

Thanks for all of this info and discussion, really. Nice to "talk this through" with such smart women! If we ever have a heated topic of higher education and non-profit marketing I'm your lady. 

[ttt]

Oct 4, 2014 16:52:52 GMT -5 audry80 said:

I was on a ventilator for 12 days with only a memory of one day. That one day was the worst day of my life. Even if she isn't brain dead, I could not imagine living a life on a ventilator.

It's a very sad situation.

That's what I keep coming back to. I don't know if it's worse if she actually is dead or if she isn't, because if she isn't and she is aware of what's happening to her, that, to me, is a fate worse than death. 

Either way, the person I feel most sorry for in all of this is the sister. I cannot even imagine all the ways this is going to f this child up for the rest of her life. 

[Deleted]

I think it's interesting that we keep thinking of her as either brain dead and gone or not brain dead and some form of aware. I think that if she isn't dead, that there is so little brain activity that there is no way she's aware of anything. That poor baby is gone and she is never coming back.

[debatethis]

Oh hey, look. Another update. This attorney is a special level of disgusting.

snn.bz/jahi_preparations/



OAKLAND, Calif. – A court-appointed expert has told a California judge he sees no evidence that a 13-year-old girl is alive 10 months after a coroner signed her death certificate.

The opinion was provided Monday in the case of Jahi McMath by Stanford University pediatric neurologist Paul Fisher.

Jahi was declared brain dead on Dec. 12 after she went into cardiac arrest following surgery to treat sleep apnea. Her family wants Alameda County Superior Court Judge Evelio Grillo to issue what would be an unprecedented order declaring her to be alive after being declared brain dead.

A hearing had been scheduled for Thursday, but it has been postponed as the attorney representing McMath’s mother seeks time to respond to Fisher’s finding.

“There wasn’t time to react to this letter,” attorney Chris Dolan said Wednesday night. “Given the fact that we were up against the time crunch … I thought that we were going to be in essence sandbagged.”

Dolan objected to Fisher’s appointment as an independent expert, arguing that the doctor has a conflict of interest because he was one of the physicians who agreed with the brain-death diagnosis in December.

Thursday’s hearing wasn’t immediately rescheduled, and Dolan has asked for a four-week delay so his experts and Fisher can discuss the results and come up with a plan for more tests that would satisfy them all.

“I just wanted to give these doctors a chance to talk,” Dolan said.

Dolan also said in a press statement that the McMath family would hold a prayer vigil for Jahi at Yeshua Our Lord church in Oakland, CBS San Francisco reported.

Five other medical professionals who performed new tests on the teenager in New Jersey last month said the girl showed signs of brain function.

In his letter to the judge, Fisher replied that the tests either were irrelevant to determining brain death in a child or not carried out in accordance with accepted medical standards.

“None of the declarations provide evidence that Jahi McMath is not brain dead,” he wrote.

Jahi has been kept on a ventilator and feeding tubes since she suffered severe complications from the surgery. Fisher examined her then at the request of the judge while her family fought a hospital’s decision to remove the equipment.

Fisher was one of three doctors who declared her brain-dead after finding no neurological activity.

Dolan has given the judge the results of a Sept. 1 electroencephalogram that a researcher at a medical school in Cuba said showed electrical activity in Jahi’s brain.

Fisher, in his letter to the judge, said the new test was performed in an apartment, not a health care setting, and the recorded activity could have come from elsewhere in the girl’s body or even the environment. Regardless, he said, a flat reading on the exam is not a prerequisite for brain death.

Fisher similarly took issue with the brain scan that allegedly showed blood flowing to Jahi’s brain. He said the test doctors and researchers from the nonprofit International Brain Research Foundation used was incorrect and would not have demonstrated such blood flow.

Fisher also did not attach much significance to videos showing the girl moving her hands and feet in apparent response to her mother’s commands.

Jahi’s mother, Latasha Winkfield, has worked to keep her daughter’s organs functioning on life support, first at Children’s Hospital in Oakland and later at an undisclosed medical facility, and now a house in New Jersey. In June, CBS station KPIX 5 reported that McMath was in a Catholic children’s hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Unlike California, New Jersey law allows families to reject a declaration of brain death on religious grounds and allows brain-dead patients to remain connected to ventilators.


The family of the Bay Area girl declared brain dead last year after surgery wants a judge to declare her “not dead,” but a PR strategist who used to work for the hospital says the family lawyer’s effort is a publicity stunt to boost a statewide proposition on next month’s ballot to let medical malpractice plaintiffs collect bigger payouts.

Chris Dolan, the lawyer for the family of Jahi McMath, who was declared brain dead after tonsil surgery last year at the age of 13, has given $25,000 to the campaign for Prop. 46, a ballot measure that would boost the cap on verdicts from medical malpractice lawsuits from $250,000 to over $1 million.

Jahi McMath’s Family Seeks Brain-Death Ruling Reversal

But Sam Singer, the publicist who used to work as a spokesman for the hospital that treated Jahi and is now speaking out against Dolan, also has a stake in that campaign. Singer is paid as a publicist to work for the “No on 46″ campaign, aiming to keep malpractice caps at their current level.

Describing the effort as the “cruelest publicity stunt of all-time,” Singer theorized Dolan is seeking a judge’s order to declare the 13-year-old girl “not dead” at a court hearing on Oct. 9 to bring awareness to “things that can go wrong at a hospital.”


Cal Access Singer noted the timing of Dolan’s legal request – about a month before the November elections. Secretary of State campaign finance records show the Dolan Law Firm gave $25,000 to the “Yes on Prop. 46, Your Neighbors for Patient Safety, a Coalition of Consumer Attorney’s and Patient Safety Advocates” in January.

If Prop. 46 passes, the cap on medical negligence lawsuits will increase “for inflation” from when it was first passed in 1975. In today’s terms, that would amount to about $1.1 million. At a news conference on Friday, Dolan answered why he was seeking to declare Jahi “not dead.” “This is no ruse,” Dolan said. “This is the truth.”

Dolan presented what he says are the findings of independent brain research experts who performed brain imaging and other tests on Jahi at Rutgers University Medical School. Jahi’s mother, Nailah Winkfield, said she finally has proof her daughter isn’t brain dead. She shared photos of the girl, appearing nourished and full of color, and videos that show Jahi apparently responding to commands to move her feet and hands. However, NBC Bay Area was not able to independently verify the videos. Jahi’s family filed a court petition Friday, asking a judge to reverse the girl’s death certificate.

Dolan said Jahi has profound brain damage, but there is a difference between being brain damaged and brain dead. “This is unequivocal proof,” he said, pointing to an MRI photo. Before the conference, Jahi’s uncle, Omari Sealey, told NBC Bay Area that “there are a lot of different reasons we’ve done what we’ve done. Sam can say anything he wants.” Dolan has not filed a lawsuit against UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, and has previously said that his fight for Jahi is not about money. He did indicate this week, however, to reporters that Jahi could be eligible for state benefits if her death status is changed.NBC Bay Area Legal Analyst Steven Clark said it would be very “unlikely” that a judge would rule that Jahi is now alive, but acknowledged it would be “fascinating.”

If Jahi were “resurrected,” Clark said, that would force the state to pay for her care — even, perhaps, back at Children’s Hospital in Oakland. “This is a huge economic issue,” he said. This week, on behalf of Jahi’s mother, Latasha “Nailah” Winfield, Dolan filed a petition in Alameda County Superior Court for Judge Evelio Grillo to determine that the girl is “not brain dead,” even though the same judge had declared her dead on Dec. 24, 2013.

[mominatrix]

can I just ask the question... having watched the video... the mother is claiming that not only is Jahi NOT brain dead, she can make intentional movements...

then, why not let the doctors remove her from the ventilator? if she's capable of responding to commands, she must certainly be capable of breathing independently.

...so, why the fight?