<p>Regarding the woman in Texas . . . as I recall, her husband came found and found her on the floor, not breathing. She’d been deprived of oxygen an unknown length of time, but apparently sufficiently long to result in brain death. Doesn’t bode well for her fetus.</p>
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<p>The amount the lawyer gets in a California med mal case is controlled by statute. He can’t negotiate up from that. Typically, a lawyer who takes a case to trial gets a third. The statutory amount here is a sliding scale. A third of $250k, if it settles quickly, is a nice pay day. A third on a case that is defended vigorously is not. Malpractice cases are very expensive to bring and most attorneys will only take clear winners, where liability is clear and the only fight is over the damages. The fight over money often comes when large wage earners die. There is no cap on economic damages. Children are not wage earners and there is no economic loss so, in most cases, $250k it is. A firm backed by an insurance company with virtually unlimited resources can bury the victim’s lawyer in pretty short order. Good cases are often settled for a fraction of what they are worth and many victims with good cases can’t even find an attorney willing to foot the expenses of the suit for years on the chance that they will win.</p>
<p>I know this is morbid, but for any of the doctors on here: if a fetus is deprived of oxygen long enough to be brain dead, will the body naturally abort?</p>
<p>I know there are stillbirths and where brain death came late in the pregnancy, but I’m not sure about early on.</p>
<p>Taking on the case originally seemed to be about making sure the family got an independent medical evaluation before a ventilator was turned off. The evaluation was done. So, now the same lawyer can/will pursue this as a malpractice case?</p>
<p>He does handle medical malpractice cases according to his website. I don’t think he’d be involved if he didn’t expect to get the malpractice case.</p>
<p>So much then for the pro bono angle. Some of this just defies logic.</p>
<p>All of the publicity now puts pressure on the hospital to settle to just make it go away and get them out of the spotlight. It’s a tough case even if the doctors did nothing wrong. When a seemingly healthy little girl never wakes up from surgery, the “sometimes things go wrong” defense is hard to sell, even if it makes perfect sense.</p>
<p>This doesn’t appear to be a healthy little girl though. This was a girl who was obese (a complicating factor) who went through a rather complicated surgery for a 13 year old.</p>
<p>EK, if it is the state of Texas that made the decision for the family, the state should absorb all costs. That would be fair, IMO.</p>
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<p>Those are questions of fact that will be determined but sympathy in this case is with the victim. She was able to walk into the hospital and she died. Those are tough facts right there.</p>
<p>[Court</a> blocks hospital from disconnecting Jahi McMath from life support - CNN.com](<a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/30/health/jahi-mcmath-girl-brain-dead/index.html?hpt=us_t3]Court”>http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/30/health/jahi-mcmath-girl-brain-dead/index.html?hpt=us_t3)</p>
<p>"The report was prepared by Dr. Paul Fisher, Chief of Pediatric Neurology at Stanford University, who was appointed by Alameda Superior Court Judge Evelio Grillo to examine the girl and report his findings to the court.</p>
<p>Fisher found that the girl’s pupils were fully dilated and unresponsive to light and that she did not respond to a variety of intense stimuli.</p>
<p>His report also says McMath showed no sign of breathing on her own when a ventilator was removed: “Patient failed apnea test.” While the family has referred to Jahi’s heart beating, the report says it is only beating because of the mechanical ventilator.
In addition, an imaging test showed no blood flow to Jahi’s brain, while another showed no sign of electrical activity.</p>
<p>Fisher’s conclusion: “Overall, unfortunate circumstances in 13-year-old with known, irreversible brain injury and now complete absence of cerebral function and complete absence of brainstem function, child meets all criteria for brain death, by professional societies and state of California.”</p>
<hr>
<p>This child was not a healthy young person. She was morbidly obese. Doctors had recommended the surgery to treat pediatric obstructive sleep apnea, a condition which made her stop breathing in her sleep and caused other medical problems. The surgery was more involved than a simple tonsillectomy (which in of itself, can result in complications). The doctors removed her tonsils, adenoids and extra sinus tissue in a surgery (I think they “shaved” the uvula). </p>
<p>When my sister had her tonsils removed (around the age of 16 or 17), she too had bleeding complications. She was admitted back into the hospital. She hemorrhaged 4 times. She was sent back into the operating room three more times to stop the bleeding. We were told if she hemorrhaged one more time, she may not pull through. It took months for to get her strength back. Even under the best of circumstances (she was a young, thin, athletic, healthy girl), complications can occur. There are no guarantees in life—other than we live and we die. </p>
<p>I really do feel for her parents. However, it is time for them to accept the reality that their daughter is dead. Machines are pushing blood through a corpse. Their baby is gone. Hold the family in your thoughts and hope that someone can help them accept the reality of the situation. </p>
<p>I’m sure we can all agree that this a parent’s worst nightmare.</p>
<p>An Oakland jury will be with the girl and they are riling up the community to make sure of it. It’s so transparent it’s almost unbelievable. But it works.</p>
<p>I had no idea about how complicated this girl’s surgery was. </p>
<p>That is a big risk to make to resolve sleep apnea.</p>
<p>^That starts to sound like you are blaming the parents. I’m sure they feel terrible enough without getting blamed for the situation as well.</p>
<p>No one is blaming the parents.</p>
<p>The surgery involving the uvula is called–Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty. She had this in addition to removal of tonsils and adenoids coupled with the added complication of morbid obesity and the complications associate with it. This wasn’t a simple tonsillectomy (which alone carries risks).</p>
<p>It’s a tragedy and nothing any of us would ever wish upon anyone.</p>
<p>Me? No, I am not blaming the parents. </p>
<p>All surgeries have risks. </p>
<p>I do not know enough of the background info. I heard it was a tonsillectomy, had one as a young adult and know how dangerous it could be. All those other parts of surgery are extensive. Lots of areas to bleed. </p>
<p>My dad got one of those sleep masks and it worked wonders. I had moderate sleep apnea when I was younger. The tonsillectomy did help with the symptoms. </p>
<p>I have tremendous sympathy for this girl’s family.</p>
<p>The Texas case is much more complex. According to this article: [Texas</a> hospital forbids husband of brain-dead, pregnant wife to remove her from life support | The Raw Story](<a href=“http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/25/texas-hospital-forbids-husband-of-brain-dead-pregnant-wife-to-remove-her-from-life-support/]Texas”>http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/25/texas-hospital-forbids-husband-of-brain-dead-pregnant-wife-to-remove-her-from-life-support/)</p>
<p>Doctors estimated the woman was without oxygen for over an hour. The husband indicates that he is responsible for these bills and he cannot afford them. If anybody needs a Facebook page for donations, it’s this guy. He is an EMT (and so was his wife) so he definitely understands the medical implications.</p>
<p>[Judge</a> Orders Oakland Hospital to Keep Jahi McMath on Life Support | NBC Bay Area](<a href=“Judge Orders Oakland Hospital to Keep Jahi McMath on Life Support – NBC Bay Area”>Judge Orders Oakland Hospital to Keep Jahi McMath on Life Support – NBC Bay Area)</p>
<p>from the article:</p>
<p>“Doug Straus said this case is not about a routine tonsillectomy. He said the surgery was complicated from the beginning, as three procedures were being done simultaneously. The three surgeries, according to court documents, were: an adenotonsillectomy; a uvulopalatopharyngloplasty, or UPPP, which is tissue removal in the throat; and submucous resection of bilateral inferior turbinates, which is nasal obstruction. The family has previously said the surgery was to help fix Jahi’s sleep apnea.”</p>
<p>*Doctors estimated the woman was without oxygen for over an hour. *</p>
<p>that is not direct info. That is a quote from the woman’s mom. We really don’t know exactly what the doctors said. They may have said, “she could have been w/o oxygen for over an hour” and the mom changed the words a bit.</p>
<p>I hope that the baby is given up for adoption because if it is healthy enough to know about all of this …and how his dad and grandparents wanted him dead…I don’t think that would bode well for him (or her).</p>
<p>I question why they did 3 procedures. I think that was risky. I doubt the parents knew how risky it was no matter what documents they signed. I wonder how often doctors do those 3 procedures together on a patient vs doing 1 then later coming back and doing another.</p>