Girl at center of debate over brain death dies after surgery
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
From MSN News:
SAN FRANCISCO — A family member says a girl at the center of the medical and religious debate over brain death has died after surgery.
The girl's mother Nailah Winkfield said Thursday that New Jersey doctors declared Jahi McMath dead from excessive bleeding and liver failure after an operation to treat an intestinal issue.
McMath had been in a vegetative state since December 2013, when a California coroner ruled that the 13-year-old girl died after suffering irreversible brain damage during an operation to remove her tonsils.
Winkfield refused to accept the conclusion and moved the girl to New Jersey, where she has been kept on life support and received care. The state accommodates religions that don't recognize brain death.
Winkfield acknowledged her daughter's dire medical condition but said her Christian beliefs compelled her to fight for care because the girl occasionally showed physical signs of life by twitching her finger or wriggling her toe.
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A sad case. Condolences to the family. But brain death is death, simple as that. It's too bad the family could not come to terms with that.
I remember this case. I wondered how long it would drag on.
I was actually just thinking about this case the other day wondering if there had been any updates. Very sad situation.
Too long.
I remember the back and forth of this case. Medicaid reportedly paid the bills [which caused an uproar] …… while the mother was reporting on the girls flawless skin, others were saying there was signs of decomp - very sad situation ..
May this young girl finally rest in Peace...
I agree 100%. There is nothing to be gained by dragging this out. If the girl was going to recover, she would have a long time ago. Brain tissue isn't like skin, once the tissue dies, that's it, it does not come back.
A mother's grief let her only see the beautiful little girl she knew. RIP little one.
Thank you Paula … from the beginning of this case, I could not understand what this woman was thinking. Now, through your words I can see the mothers view a bit more clearly...
There is a difference between living, and being alive. Is she alive? Yes. Is she living? No. I have to wonder if the mother, after praying as much as she undoubtedly has, has come to the realization that prayer literally does nothing. Sad situation all the way around, if it were my child, I would let them go.
To me brain death is akin to flowers that have been cut. You can stick the stems in some sugar water to keep them looking healthy for a time, but you're never going to get them to grow. You can continue to pump fluids though the body, use mechanical means to inflate the lungs and pump the heart, but without the brain function all you're doing is keeping a water sack hydrated. The brain is what makes us who we are, and once those neurons stop firing and electro-chemical reactions quit, there is no life left.
I find it interesting how we have evolved chemical reactions in our own brains, especially the addiction most of us have to oxytocin which plays a large role in our bonding with a child and loved ones. This chemical connection we create in our own brains attaches us to our children and loved ones through touch, hugging, breast feeding, even holding hands. I believe it is why parents might feel so attached to a child that they refuse to give up even when faced with doctors telling them their child is brain dead. This evolved trait has allowed humans to not give up on our loved ones long after it would seem sensible.
In fact I believe the concept of a soul or life after death is linked to this desire for people to have an alternative they can accept when a loved one dies. Instead of understanding the law of thermodynamics that states that energy (matter) can neither be created nor destroyed thus the energy in each body is returned to the universe it came from to become some new form of energy or matter, humans want to cling to the idea that the person we knew is still thinking, existing in some conscious form. What's even sillier is that many believe that conscious form has pain receptors where it can be either tortured for eternity or given ultimate pleasure. But the main thing is peoples desire to cling to things they loved, things that elicited an oxytocin response and reward in our own brains. So it's no wonder that some would come to the conclusion that those ones we loved aren't really gone, that somehow they aren't dead so we don't have to give up our hope of getting that oxytocin reward, in fact we can look forward to "seeing them again". Personally I believe this to be a false hope, but one that usually does no harm.
It has been said that God is love. From a scientific perspective, the closest we can get to God is oxytocin. Without it we don't feel the close ties and connections of humanity. Even from a morality perspective, the ability to produce oxytocin from stimulus (as about 95% of us do) it's an indicator of morality.
There is no debate, brain death is exactly that, the death of the brain. When that happens there is absolutely no coming back, the person is dead. I mean sure you can use machines to keep the body going for a bit, but for all meaningful purposes the person themselves is long gone. Again, this is not up for debate it has been long settled. Seriously, find me someone who is walking around, living life to fullest with a medically dead brain. And no I won't wait, i don't have that much time.
Maxine Waters?
I wouldn't be surprised if the surgery wasn't deliberately tainted. This poor kid was never coming back, and I'm sure the hospital was tired of devoting resources to her. Just think about what the costs associated with her life support were. Read this to get some idea: