Why Jahi McMath's mom is sure her daughter isn't brain dead- WHAS ABC

[EmperorNapoleon]

And what you don’t say is that they are respected doctors in their field of research.

Phillip DeFina is not a respected doctor. He was fired from his last position for subjecting his patients to unapproved experimental and ineffective “treatments.” Specifically, he was telling desperate parents that for the low low price of $100,000 he would treat or cure their child’s autism by sticking them in hyperbolic chambers. His peers still question his credentials and he has a reputation of preying on families and peddling false hope for large sums of money. The man is about as unethical as it gets and barely competent to boot.

 

[Path_Finder]

Phillip DeFina is not a respected doctor. He was fired from his last position for subjecting his patients to unapproved experimental “treatments” and charging their desperate parents $100,000 a pop for them. His peers still question his credentials and he has a reputation of preying on families and peddling false hope for large sums of money.

Dr. DeFina’s research team has been awarded a 6.4 million dollar grant by the US government to continue research in the area of coma and prolonged vegetative state. His advanced care protocol has been awarded an FDA approval this year.

prurgent.com/2012-11-19/pressrelease273443.htm

Must be nice not to be a respected doctor to the tune of a ** 6.4 million dollar grant ** by the US government for research in the area of coma and prolonged vegetative state.

It looks like he is questionable but at the same time, can not be totally dismissed. He was nominated to a government position which looks like it was pulled with these problems.

** Dr. De Fina ** is not the only doctor involved here.

Dr. Charles J. Prestigiacomo, chair of the neurological surgery department at Rutgers, said in a phone interview that the case raises questions of whether there “is something we might need to change in our basic teaching” on brain death.

“From what I know and what I’ve experienced with individuals who have been deemed brain-dead, usually the classic teaching is the body can’t tolerate and be functional for that long a period of time without there being important (name removed by moderator)ut from some part of the brain,” said Prestigiacomo, one of the experts who joined Dolan for the news conference.

latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-medical-experts-jahi-mcmath-20141002-story.html

Add to this Dr. Machado too besides the Chair of the Rutgers neuroscience surgery department.

 

[EmperorNapoleon]

Must be nice not to be a respected doctor to the tune of a ** 6.4 million dollar grant ** by the US government for research in the area of coma and prolonged vegetative state.

The DOD is famous for flushing taxpayer dollars down the tubes.

Add to this Dr. Machado too besides the Chair of the Rutgers neuroscience surgery department.

Their claims were evaluated and rejected by Dr. Paul Fisher who is the Director of the Center for Brain and Behavior and Division Chief of Child Neurology at Stanford among others.

 

[_Abyssinia]

There appears to be some disputing whether Jahi Mcmath is brain dead but even if she was brain dead, there are story after story of people who were declared brain dead who woke up, so even if her family believed she was brain dead that does not mean they would want her taken off life support necessarily.

 

[TarkanAttila]

There appears to be some disputing whether Jahi Mcmath is brain dead but even if she was brain dead, there are story after story of people who were declared brain dead who woke up, so even if her family believed she was brain dead that does not mean they would want her taken off life support necessarily.

Under what conditions would you say it is necessary to keep a brain-dead person on life support?

 

[NeedsMercy]

mercurynews.com/science/ci_26644995/jahi-mcmath-family-seeks-have-brain-death-ruling

So this could get interesting alright, whether one could be brain-dead but do the underlined, I don’t know.

Brain dead people have developed sexual characteristics. The appearance of a true menarche-this is still undetermined in Jahi’s case–is meaningless in and of itself.

I don’t pretend to understand all of the endocrine issues at the level of a specialist physician or scientist, but I know enough to understand that reproductive systems can continue to function in catastrophically brain injured, as well as brain dead individuals, who were previously normal before the traumatic injury. We see brain dead pregnant women being maintained for varying lengths on life support measures to gestate the end of a pregnancy to viability for the fetus. We also saw Marlise Munoz in Texas, at the end of the first trimester, be maintained on life support for weeks to months, after suffering brain death. Even the young boy who was brain dead from meningitis at age 4, for 20 years, went on to develop some secondary sex characteristics, such as pubic hair,and axillary hair, although his testicles never descended. At autopsy, his brain was a calcified into a small lump at the base of the skull. That suggests that there are some corporal mechanisms in children and adolescents for some parts of reproductive maturity to occur, in the absence of hypothalamic- pituitary- gonadal axis function.

For example, it would be very interesting to know whether or not Jahi has experienced ovulation, or if she has menstruation in the absence of ovarian function. Either way, I am highly skeptical whether the presence of vaginal bleeding (which may, or may not be actual menarche) in Jahi is proof that she has some level of intact hypothalamic- pituitary- ovarian axis for stimulation of reproductive hormones.

sprocket-trials.blogspot.com/search/label/Jahi%20McMath

 

[_Abyssinia]

Under what conditions would you say it is necessary to keep a brain-dead person on life support?

I am not enough of an expert to say, but a declaration of somebody being brain dead is not always the end, people can recover.

 

[seekerz]

I am not enough of an expert to say, but a declaration of somebody being brain dead is not always the end, people can recover.

At what point does it become a question of clinging desperately to life at all costs? Seriously, death is a part of life. These parents would be wise to come to terms with that and let go. I think there comes a time when we’re actually disrespecting basic human dignity (including the right to die naturally) by refusing to let nature take its course.

 

[Path_Finder]

At what point does it become a question of clinging desperately to life at all costs? Seriously, death is a part of life. These parents would be wise to come to terms with that and let go. I think there comes a time when we’re actually disrespecting basic human dignity (including the right to die naturally) by refusing to let nature take its course.

Jesus is the great physician, He is whom we should abide by.

John 5

 

[Emily2014]

At what point does it become a question of clinging desperately to life at all costs? Seriously, death is a part of life. These parents would be wise to come to terms with that and let go. I think there comes a time when we’re actually disrespecting basic human dignity (including the right to die naturally) by refusing to let nature take its course.

I agree absolutely with this wise and compassionate post. What possible quality of life could she have?

 

[Path_Finder]

I agree absolutely with this wise and compassionate post. What possible quality of life could she have?

Tell that to those who have been designated “brain dead” and whom have recovered!

The boy who came back from the dead: Experts said car crash teen was beyond hope. His parents disagreed

• Steven Thorpe awoke from 2-week coma after car crash that killed a man
  His devastated parents were even asked to consider donating his organs
  Doctors found signs of life only after his father begged them to recheck him*

They were told there was no chance of their son surviving after he suffered devastating injuries in a car crash.

But Steven Thorpe’s parents refused to give up hope – despite four specialists declaring that the 17-year-old was brain dead.

Convinced they saw a ‘flicker’ of life as Steven lay in a coma, John and Janet Thorpe rejected advice to switch off his life support machine.

They begged for another opinion – and it was a decision that saved him.

Read more: dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2134346/Steven-Thorpe-Teenager-declared-brain-dead-FOUR-doctors-makes-miracle-recovery.html#ixzz3N8smn1YA

 

[Path_Finder]

D. Alan Shewmon, MD, Professor Emeritus, UCLA, department of Neurology and Pediatrics:

mercurynews.com/ci_26796273/jahi-mcmath-case-declaration-dr-d-alan-shewmon

*Regardless of the explanation, the fact remains that Jahi does not fulfill brain death diagnostic criteria. She is an extremely disabled but very much alive teenage girl. *

One more expert saying Jahi McMath is not brain-dead. Full statement at the webpage.

 

[seekerz]

Tell that to those who have been designated “brain dead” and whom have recovered!

Recovery from a coma after 2 weeks is not comparable to what we’re talking about. This child has been on artificial life support for much longer than that.

Sometimes, it seems to me that in these life debates there are a multitude of sides: those who have no respect for life or its author, those who verge on hyper-focusing on life almost to the point of eclipsing its author…and those in the middle who can strike a balance. I pray her parents can achieve the latter.

 

[jediliz]

Corpses don’t menstruate

She is NOT dead.

 

[TarkanAttila]

I agree absolutely with this wise and compassionate post. What possible quality of life could she have?

While I think I understand the good intention of this post - and it well-intentioned - it is too full of the stuff of this world, I’m afraid. It is this that people use to justify aborting the genetically defective. It is this statement that has justified the quest to eliminate Down’s syndrome from Denmark. It is this sentiment that has justified the euthanising of and sterilising of the mentally retarded. It is this that has killed Catholics, Jews, Jehovah’s Witnesses, communists, and any number of political and religious countercultures.

My point being, death is not a solution to a “poor quality of life”, whatever may cause it, and even if there is no cure for it. Death is an evil.

That being said - all that being said - in our faith, death is not only a “part of life”, but it is the final step of our “felix culpa”. The fall of Adam merited us such a Saviour as Christ, and such a life as Heaven. Death is the normal entryway into this state of living. I understand the desire to keep the dying alive here on Earth. But we were made for something more. Medicine, which I do appreciate and am thankful for, is truly of secondary importance. All things die. All people die. Even if we have no true home, this life is not our home.

 

[NeedsMercy]

Corpses don’t menstruate

She is NOT dead.

The appearance of vaginal bleeding–it is still undetermined whether or not this is a true menarche in Jahi’s case–is not an indicator that the brain is fully functional. Please read my previous post. A person can develop sexual characteristics without higher brain function.

 

[NeedsMercy]

While I think I understand the good intention of this post - and it well-intentioned - it is too full of the stuff of this world, I’m afraid. It is this that people use to justify aborting the genetically defective. It is this statement that has justified the quest to eliminate Down’s syndrome from Denmark. It is this sentiment that has justified the euthanising of and sterilising of the mentally retarded. It is this that has killed Catholics, Jews, Jehovah’s Witnesses, communists, and any number of political and religious countercultures.

My point being, death is not a solution to a “poor quality of life”, whatever may cause it, and even if there is no cure for it. Death is an evil.

That being said - all that being said - in our faith, death is not only a “part of life”, but it is the final step of our “felix culpa”. The fall of Adam merited us such a Saviour as Christ, and such a life as Heaven. Death is the normal entryway into this state of living. I understand the desire to keep the dying alive here on Earth. But we were made for something more. Medicine, which I do appreciate and am thankful for, is truly of secondary importance. All things die. All people die. Even if we have no true home, this life is not our home.

First, you are reading waaaay too much into Emily’s post, and unfairly accusing her of things that she might never do.

Have you ever watched a loved one slowly die, suffering all the while? If you did, then you would know that death is sometimes not an “evil”, but a blessing. Death may be the “normal entryway” to the afterlife, but I defy you to say that there is anything “normal” about what is being done to Jahi. She is most definitely not being kept “alive”. Her decomposition is being put off for totally misguided reasons, but this is not “living” by any stretch of the imagination. Her family should just let her go, remove the life support, and let her body die. I ask you—would you want to “live” like this for who-knows-how-long?

 

[estesbob]

I think it is sad that the modern Left always comes down on the side of death.The culture of death truly has permeated this country.

 

[Mike_Dye]

I think it is sad that the modern Left always comes down on the side of death.The culture of death truly has permeated this country.

I agree, You would think that they would believe otherwise, considering that when it comes to being brain dead most of the left is on the razors edge.

 

[Path_Finder]

The appearance of vaginal bleeding–it is still undetermined whether or not this is a true menarche in Jahi’s case–is not an indicator that the brain is fully functional. Please read my previous post. A person can develop sexual characteristics without higher brain function.

Originally Posted by jediliz View Post
Corpses don’t menstruate

She is NOT dead.

Jediliz’s point is corpses do not menstruate. I think this can be a simple yes or no answer.

Sexual Maturity does indicate brain activity.