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

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NeedsMercy said:
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?
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So a Credentialed Professor MD such as D. Alan Shewmon of the department of neurology and pediatrics at UCLA is wrong? Okay.

mercurynews.com/ci_26796273/jahi-mcmath-case-declaration-dr-d-alan-shewmon
 
I have no great wish to see the outcome of what will come to pass on this planet if humankind is for the most part successful in eradicating the cross from this world. Some think we will arrive at some sort of Heaven, wile I and not a few others, believe quite the opposite.
 
Path_Finder said:
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.
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First, there was no question to answer “yes” or “no” to. Second, there is absolutely no proof that the appearance of vaginal bleeding in Jahi McMath’s case is true menarche. If you have a link showing that it is, please provide. This is NOT sexual maturity, and does NOT indicate brain activity since sexual characteristics may occur independently of hypothalamic-pituitary–gonadal axis function.
 
TarkanAttila said:
It might worth knowing that “brain-death” as the criteria for death, period, is a legal term, not really a clinical one. The point at which an human being actually “dies” is still not fully understood by biological science.

Case in point: anencephaly. Granted, an anencephalic baby is not likely to live for long outside the womb, even with medical care. Over half are miscarriages. But somehow, even without a brain, some are not stillborn. Curious, isn’t it? And actually, there have been parents to some few anencephalic babies that have managed to keep them alive for at least a few years.

So, a bit short-sighted, methinks, to attribute medical or biological power to a purely legal term.

All this being said, all this talk requires prudence in judging the difference between ordinary and extraordinary healthcare. I do not think doctors have the right to stop the parents of a supposedly brain-dead child from keeping the child alive, if they want and it will not prove a harmful burden to them or to their other children and dependents. But I am not decided on the necessity of keeping the brain-dead alive at our current level of technology. It seems like a coin-flip to me. People have come back from “brain death”. But are the chances likely? … I doubt it.
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Babies with anencephaly suffer from incomplete brain development, not complete lack of brain development.

People have come back from a misdiagnosis of brain death, not actual brain death.
 
NeedsMercy said:
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.
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The appearance of vaginal bleeding might be due to excessive estrogen in her system. The ovaries produce estrogen, but so do fat cells. Jahi seemed to be an overweight child.
 
JamalChristophr said:
That is inspiring…it remind’s me of Terri, who was worse off, but I think she was not 100% brain dead either…obviously that’s not the correct term…

Witholding food and water is inherently evil and against Catholic teaching.

Science is progressing, and this girl is young, only God has the right to take her life, no one else.
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Terri was severely brain damaged, not brain dead. The life support she required was a feeding tube. She did not require a ventilator, she breathed on her own.

Jahi was pronounced brain dead by 5 different doctors. Is it possible that all 5 made errors in their diagnosis?

Dr. Fisher examined Jahi last year and explains the diagnosis;
Stanford University’s Paul Graham Fisher, a pediatric neurologist who last year examined Jahi as a court-appointed independent expert, wrote in a letter to Judge Evelio Grillo that the doctors used standards and tests that are irrelevant.
“Overall, none of the current materials presented in the declarations refute my (Dec. 23) examination and consultation finding … or those of several prior attending physicians who completed the same exams, that Jahi McMath met all criteria for brain death,” he wrote. “None of the declarations provide evidence that Jahi McMath is not brain dead.”
Fisher noted that he is not being paid for his opinion, has no connection to Children’s Hospital and continues “to extend my sympathies to the family and friends of Jahi McMath.”
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Fisher was one of three doctors who declared her brain-dead after finding no neurological activity.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Decomposition was supposed to have been happening already months ago. You can’t slow that down. Why hasn’t she decomposed to the visible point by now? It makes no sense. Even decubitus ulcers degrade rapidly in fully responsive patients. We are good at life support, but decomposition is not going to simply stop. This alone, confuses me more than anything else. Then, all these supposed experts disagreeing with each other. I cannot imagine being the parents and getting mixed signals from professionals. I hope that no one is taking advantage of this family’s situation to make money.
 
Jahi was pronounced brain dead by 5 different doctors. Is it possible that all 5 made errors in their diagnosis?
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It is not likely, but yes, it is possible.

I have no definitive opinion one way or another at this point, but I’d rather err on the side of caution than presumption. Most doctors don’t want to admit they were wrong in their original views, or homo sapiens either for that matter. Go figure! 🙂

I’m not an expert on brain scans, but I see a number of observations and tests indicating that further testing should be done to demonstrate more conclusively in what is going on in one direction or another. There are angiograms, spect scans, and pet scans that can be done. The latter may be unnecessary as it is very expensive, but the first two are quite feasible. I know less about EEGs but I would certainly not discount the results prematurely as it seems some have done.

Just because a person needs a ventillator to continue to survive on does not de facto make that person unviable and “dead” to put it in a gross manner. Agree/Disagree? Why?
 
My personal opinion is that with all the controversy surrounding her and the consequent ongoing torment for her family, it would be more humane to see if she can actually breathe without life supporting machinery. If God wants her to live - she will. A loving compassionate God will otherwise let her come to Him.
 
JamalChristophr said:
It is not likely, but yes, it is possible.

I have no definitive opinion one way or another at this point, but I’d rather err on the side of caution than presumption. Most doctors don’t want to admit they were wrong in their original views, or homo sapiens either for that matter. Go figure! 🙂

I’m not an expert on brain scans, but I see a number of observations and tests indicating that further testing should be done to demonstrate more conclusively in what is going on in one direction or another. There are angiograms, spect scans, and pet scans that can be done. The latter may be unnecessary as it is very expensive, but the first two are quite feasible. I know less about EEGs but I would certainly not discount the results prematurely as it seems some have done.

Just because a person needs a ventillator to continue to survive on does not de facto make that person unviable and “dead” to put it in a gross manner. Agree/Disagree? Why?
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Two of my own children have required ventilators. Even when they were on ventilators, they were able to breathe on their own for a few breaths per minute. The ventilator was to help them breathe.

To what I understand, Jahi was not able to pass an apnea test. The test looks for response to a rise in carbon dioxide, a live person has a reflex response to attempt to breathe. This never occured with Jahi.

The two neurosurgeons that looked at her scans (they were mentioned earlier) never saw Jahi in person. One neurosurgeon interpreted the EEG (that was performed by a psychologist in an apartment) the other looked at her brain scan.

Dr. Fisher, has stated that the EEG was likely compromised because it was not done in the proper setting.
 
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