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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The family of a Northern California girl
who made national headlines when she was declared brain dead
after a tonsillectomy to correct sleep apnea sued the surgeon
and hospital on Tuesday, alleging medical malpractice.

Jahi McMath, who was 13 when she suffered cardiac arrest in
December 2013 following the surgery, remains on a ventilator in
New Jersey at her family's insistence despite a death
certificate issued by the coroner in Alameda County, California.

The lawsuit, filed in Alameda County Superior Court by McMath's
mother, stepfather and other family members, alleged that
surgeon Frederick Rosen performed a "complex and risky"
operation on the teen despite finding an anatomical abnormality
that increased the chances of her hemorrhaging.

The suit also charged that doctors and nurses at UCSF Benioff
Children's Hospital in Oakland failed to respond properly when
McMath began coughing up blood after the surgery.

Representatives for the hospital could not be reached for
comment on the legal action on Tuesday.

McMath's family disputes the finding that she is brain dead and
petitioned a judge last year to revoke her death certificate and
restore her status as a living person.

Family members cited statements from several doctors saying new
medical tests performed on the girl found unmistakable signs of
brain function, even awareness, at odds with a brain death
diagnosis.

The family withdrew its petition after those assertions were
challenged by a Stanford University pediatric neurology
specialist appointed by the court to review the findings. But
family members have said they have not abandoned the cause.

Experts say the case's unusual circumstances, including the
rarity of a patient being kept on life support so long after
brain activity was deemed to have stopped, could have
implications for defining brain death in the future.

Reversal of the death certificate would let McMath's mother
bring her home from New Jersey, where the family found a
facility that would keep her on a ventilator. That state, unlike
California, allows families to keep a relative on life support
on religious grounds after a brain-death declaration, an
attorney for the family has said.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Comments:

Robby 4 months ago 1 1
This story reminds me of a somewhat similar case in Texas at the
medical center. A woman gave birth to an anencephalic baby. She
was born with only the brain stem since the mother didn't go for
prenatal care. She had vegetative brain function, and could
breathe and had a heartbeat. The hospital did not have any
policy in place for this situation. They were forced to keep the
thing (I will not insult a baby with calling that a baby) alive
for more over three years, all at the expense of Medicaid (e.g.,
the taxpayers). The mother refused to take her off of her tube
feeds. It wasn't like she had other children to take care of,
either, which she did. I can understand the loss, but the
several hundred thousand spent keeping the vegetable alive could
have been spent more wisely on children that needed, oh say
cancer treatments, surgeries for congenital deformities, etc.
Entitlements..the gift that keeps on giving.
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Sherry B 4 months ago 0 3
This headlline is so misleading..The tonsillectomy surgery did
NOT leave her brain dead..That was caused by her family who went
against Doctors orders and fed the girl solid food (hamburger)
and had her laughing and talking when she was just out of the
surgery.. From her obesity it doesn't appear she missed any
meals before or after the surgery her entire life..I hope that
family doesn't get a red cent from anyone involved in this
frivolous lawsuit. All they want is the money...Let the girl be
buried, she has been dead long enough..
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Misty123 4 months ago 0 13
I am not surprised well maybe a little because I figured they
would have filed charges sooner. The mother and Grandmother gave
the girl food shortly after she had surgery knowing they were
not supposed to are the ones that bear the responsibility of
this girl's death for this is what tore out her stitches and
started her bleeding. At least 3 different doctors that had no
interest in this case including one a Neurosurgeon declared the
girl brain dead. Now the taxpayers are paying out big bucks to a
facility to keep her on life support and her brain dead.
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Sick of it! 4 months ago 1 46
Sorry, but this family is wayyyy wrong. If it was so risky for
this particular child to undergo this surgery particularly
because of her obesity, the surgery should have been postponed
until she lost weight. Problem is, if she hadn't been obese in
the first place, she would likely not have needed the surgery
anyways. That family put that child in physical danger by
feeding her junk food until she was so obese, she couldn't
breathe when trying to sleep. Then, to have brought her a
cheeseburger to eat after surgery when they were specifically
told, soft foods only, makes them negligible. They have no one
to blame but themselves, the should have no one to sue but
themselves. This type of #$%$ is why our healthcare costs so
much!
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L 4 months ago 0 26
This is a really sad story. I hope the family takes her off life
support and lets her go. It'a hard decision to make. I know of
this first hand because my family just went through it for two
weeks and had to take my brother off life support. He only had
the stem left that controls bodily functions and two 2 separate
scans by different doctors said there was no brain activity.
After life support was removed, He went fairly quickly, about a
day's time, which kind of surprised the doctor's that he lasted
that long. He was a tough old bird. Life of the party and first
of seven to go.I feel like the countdown has started.However he
died with dignity intact and thats what he wanted, He wanted
quality, not quantity of life. He told us a long time before he
went into his coma No life support or continuous nursing for him
if there was no quality, which the doctors had said 24 hour
nursing, life support forever and no recognizing any of us nor
anything. Please Let Little Jahi go to her rest. She is no
longer in that shell. She has passed on, sadly.
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Robby 4 months ago 1 7
It's unfortunate that it's always the last one out of the room
that gets sued. Parents neglected her by giving her junk food.
She's so morbidly obese that even a CPAP doesn't help. Or maybe
she cried too much that she didn't like having it on, so they
want a surgical cure for it. So it's the surgeon's fault and the
hospital's fault that, even though the family did not provide
her with proper nutritional support her whole life, they
couldn't help her. Wait...they almost did. But the family
decided to go AMA and feed her a cheeseburger. I think the
hospital should sue them for being stupid, if this is what
actually happened.
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Careban 4 months ago 1 43
My auto mechanic changed my motor oil, and tells me not to add
any more motor oil and I do it anyway, how is it my auto
mechanic and the auto repair shop’s fault when my engine dies
and starts smoking ???
The doctor told the moms No solid foods for two weeks, but no
sooner than she is in recovery, the moms and fake-nurse grandma
fed her a cheeseburger and she bled out.
If Jahi did not die in the Hospital, she would have died at
home, because they were not going to wait two full weeks before
feeding her her favorite foods.
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AmericanGirl 4 months ago 2 44
Let's sue her grandmother for bringing her cheeseburgers in the
hospital; let's sue her family for contributing to her obesity
and let's have an independent film crew go in and film her RIGHT
NOW, and let's see some statements from the doctors that she is
getting better!!

Right now all we have is the families' word since the girl is in
a private facility run by religious zelots who just want to keep
taking in money.

Under NO circumstances should the death certificate be reversed
unless she can be taken off the ventilator and it's proven she
can function on her own. The family have gone past denial and
now they just want money & publicity. The girl is dead and the
California taxpaers have better things (harsh as that sounds) to
spend money on than supporting this family who have been lying
and denying for 2 years now!
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http://news.yahoo.com/family-california-girl-left-brain-dead- tonsillectomy-sues-011154242.html
 
 

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