New Jahi McMath OP-ED from LA Times

<p>I cannot imagine that when an autopsy is finally done it will be able to shed light on much.</p>

<p>If she is indeed in a medical facility I am impressed that they have been able to keep it undisclosed for so long.</p>

<p>I would also expect that they would be expected to keep daily medical records of the patient which will have to be shared in court depending what the charges are.</p>

<p>My guess is the hospital, like most large companies, will settle for an undisclosed sum just to make the case go away and not cost additional monies. Even if the hospital is found not guilty they will not be able to collect anything from the family for the legal costs. The sooner it is settled the less expensive it will probably be.</p>

<p>I guess this is what insurance is for and yet another reason our medical bills are all so high.</p>

<p>Kind of surprised no investigative reporter hadn’t unearthed the location of the treatment facility and done an expose. </p>

<p>Well this is unsettling. Here’s a journal article describing a different case, of a 4 yr old boy who had what they called “clinical signs of brain death” after massive bacterial meningitis, who was kept on machines for 20 years!!! The article says he never grew physically (in stature) beyond the size he was at age 4 (he was a little under 3 1/2 feet tall), but weighed 154 lbs?!? <a href=“http://www.hods.org/pdf/Long%20Survival%20Following%20Baterial%20Meningits-Associated%20Brain%20Destruction1.pdf”>http://www.hods.org/pdf/Long%20Survival%20Following%20Baterial%20Meningits-Associated%20Brain%20Destruction1.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>I hope no investigative reporter tries to find the facility. To me, that would be a pointless intrusion into the McMath family’s lives. I don’t agree with the decisions the McMaths have made (to put it mildly) but I see no point in “exposing” them. What would it “expose”-- that they are keeping the body of a dead person going? We know that already. </p>

<p>It would “expose” an unethical medical facility. </p>

<p>@jym626. I found that link interesting. Since he lasted 20 years , Jahi may be on a ventilator for years.</p>

<p>Possibly, but I have a feeling they are going to want to get moving on the lawsuits if money is in fact the motivation for all of this. That would mean producing a body and some record of medical care. Should be interesting.</p>

<p>A recent tweet from Uncle Omari claimed she was fine. Perhaps truancy officers should investigate why she hasn’t yet returned to school. Good grief. </p>

<p>I think I may have a different definition of ‘fine’. </p>

<p>Kind of surprised no investigative reporter hadn’t unearthed the location of the treatment facility and done an expose.>>>>></p>

<p>I, as well. </p>

<p>perhaps the interest in this story has waned.</p>

<p>When I worked in the ICU, when asked how a patient was doing, we might say “fine” or “doing ok.” It’s so relative-what that could really mean was “his vital signs are stable,” or “he’s not looking like he’s going to code,” or even “he hasn’t died on my shift.” It usually didn’t actually mean the patient was “fine” in any kind of meaningful way. </p>

<p>Which I guess most of us here realize, but those donating and following the family with their support for that miracle (as well as financial support to help get the miracle) don’t understand.</p>

<p>I also found Jym’s link interesting. If anything it supports the medical science of brain death as a legitimate measure of death. Did anyone else look at the autopsy photos of that poor boy’s brain? It had calcified and rotted in his skull.
This is to me a travesty and what is being done to the body of Jahi is also a travesty. It amounts to nothing more than a twenty year long medical experiment performed on the remains of a loved one simply because the parent cannot let go.
Some on this thread have asked “what’s the harm?”. I think that the harm is to the living as well as the dead. Not moving forward. Not grieving a loss. The harm to the dead is, to me, about respect. It is about allowing the natural process of death and decay to occur. Would any of us here want our bodies to be used as a prop in a drama about denial? I know that I wouldn’t. </p>

<p>Well, I’m a lot more skeptical than some on here. See, I think they accepted the loss in the first week before the uncle showed up from Mexico and called a press conference. That imho is when they went into Plan B mode. But, I could be wrong. We will find out eventually.</p>

<p>If you are right, Flossy, then it is even more repugnant to allow this. Either way, there is a reason why we have criteria for death. If it fits, it should be adhered to without exception.</p>

<p>The probe into how CHO handled Jahi McMath’s care has apparently concluded.</p>

<p><a href=“http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/east_bay&id=9464631”>http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/east_bay&id=9464631&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I was just thinking about this case when the news broke that the NJ girl suing her parents is with them and now “wants privacy”. Interesting how the media gets used, and then when its not helpful they want to turn it off.</p>

<p>That ABC article was pretty misleading. The probe wasn’t on Jahi’s case specifically, it was an investigation on the hospital’s practices, taking Jahi’s records along with records from a number of other patients and looking for irregularities in paperwork and hospital procedures. Here’s a more detailed article:</p>

<p><a href=“Jahi McMath: State releases report on Children’s Hospital Oakland’s handling of patients – The Mercury News”>Jahi McMath: State releases report on Children’s Hospital Oakland’s handling of patients – The Mercury News;

<p>^^^Thanks. I googled for other articles and didn’t get any hits this morning. This one has much more info.</p>

<p>Interesting that Dolan says she bled to death in the ICU. What?</p>

<p>Well it sounds like Jahi’s family will be hard pressed to go full force on a negligence case. I get audited at work and inspected and those “deficiencies” all sound directly related to switching from a paper system to electronic medical records. </p>