Jahi McMath: Media links only ***NO DISCUSSION***

[Spellbound]

http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area...math-family-clears-another-legal-hurdle-civil

OAKLAND -- Jahi McMath's family cleared another important hurdle in its legal battle when a state appellate court ruled that the child's mother could try to prove the girl is alive.

-If the court rules Jahi is alive, the family could sue her surgeon and hospital for millions of dollars, however if the court rules she is dead, they would be limited to a wrongful-death lawsuit capped at $250,000.

-Now, Jahi's family must present evidence she is alive, said Thaddeus Pope, the director of the Health Law Institute at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law in Minnesota.




-"The defendants get to take discovery ... which will include examination of Jahi by their own (medical) experts," said Pope, who has been following Jahi's case.

-The plaintiffs will also take depositions of the hospital workers from that December 2013 day at the Oakland hospital, he said.

 

[al66pine]

"I’d pull the trigger on myself before I’d pull the plug on Jahi': Mom’s fight for ‘braindead’ kid"
[video=youtube;NwzbpxJHTFM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwzbpxJHTFM[/video],

8:24 vid interview w Jahi's mother after she spoke at National Right to Life conference.
Posted July 12 by LifeSiteNews (https://www.lifesitenews.com), seems softball questions were scripted by mother or legal team, jmo.

Her new pic is on page 2 of conference schedule, w page 3 listing her speech at a gen. session "The Deadly Consequences of Medical Discrimination."
http://nrlconvention.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/160627-schedule-nrlc2016.pdf
('Deadly Consequences' of being brain dead???)

"Jahi McMath's mother, Naila Winkfield, talks about the case at last week's National Right to Life Conference." <-- from Prof. Pope's blog July 17. http://medicalfutility.blogspot.com/2016/07/jahi-mcmath-new-video-interview-with-mom.html
See also comments on blog.

 

[al66pine]

"...a new brief..."*

In a nutshell, the state courts have repeatedly ruled that the McMath family may present evidence that Jahi is now alive.... family argues that "the issue of whether Jahi McMath is alive or not will not necessarily be resolved in the malpractice action."

....Jahi's life/death status is relevant only to the issue of money damages. And the issue of damages will be addressed only if the elements of duty, breach and causation are first proven. (On the other hand, the court has been asked to bifurcate the trial such that damages could be tried first.)

In short, the McMath family further argues that the federal lawsuit is still necessary, because the state lawsuit is unlikely to resolve the life/death issue. Why? Because plaintiffs lose most medical malpractice cases. And they take a very long time to litigate in any case (maybe 5 years). ..."

* link to the brief itself http://thaddeuspope.com/images/McMath_ND_Cal_July_15,_2016_brief_on_cal_app.pdf
link to listing of ct-filed doc's in fed.case http://thaddeuspope.com/braindeath/jahimcmath.html

all above from http://medicalfutility.blogspot.com/2016/07/jahi-mcmath-family-argues-statistically.html July 20

 

[al66pine]

From. http://medicalfutility.blogspot.com/#!/2016/08/judge-overrules-another-demurrer-in.html Aug 14

[FONT="trebuchet ms" ]"[I][COLOR=#000080]The trial judge in Jahi McMath's state malpractice [/COLOR][URL="http://thaddeuspope.com/braindeath/jahimcmath.html"]has overruled[/URL] another [/I][/FONT]defendant's demurrer to McMath's first amended complaint.
This is not a surprise, since the court had already denied other defendants' demurrers on the same grounds. Here is the relevant portion of the Order."
His blog has excerpt from the Judge's Order. Here'spdf of order Order overruling demurrer (Aug. 2, 2016).

__________________________________________________
For list & links of "primary legal materials from the several court proceedings (now numbering six) concerning the death of Jahi McMath."
See http://thaddeuspope.com/braindeath/jahimcmath.html

 

[al66pine]

From Prof. Pope's blog today http://medicalfutility.blogspot.com/2016/09/supreme-court-of-california-allows-jahi.html

"Now the case may proceed before the trial court. The parties just filed case management statements estimating a trial between 20 and 45 days long.
The trial will likely be bifurcated. That way, the life/death issue (which is relevant to the amount of damages) only gets tried if liability is first established."

http://thaddeuspope.com/braindeath/jahimcmath.html = list of pleadings, motion, & ct. docs re Jaci

^ includes these links below.

[TD="align: center"]W inkfield Case Management Statement 09-13-16

[/TD]

[TD="align: center"] Rosen Case Management Statement 08-30-16
[/TD]

 

[al66pine]

From today's entry in med-futility blog:

"... not yet formally introduced any evidence that Jahi is now alive despite being declared dead in December 2013. But the time for civil discovery is drawing near in their Alameda County medical malpractice lawsuit.
In the meantime, at the end of September, they posted this video that purportedly shows Jahi breathing on her own."
http://medicalfutility.blogspot.com/#!/2016/10/jahi-mcmath-breathes-on-her-own-nearly.html

A commenter on Prof Pope's article seems to have tech.med knowledge in his/her analysis of the 5 min vid.

ETA: youtube link, in case above link does not work [video=youtube;eZu9OKZ-bV0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZu9OKZ-bV0[/video]

ETA2: just finished watching vid. Virtually all consists of shaky camera on a med monitor & audio of mother 'interp'ing the numbers. Just a quick view of Jahi herself.

 

[al66pine]

From Oct 7, http://www.docbastard.net/ "Believing Evidence"

"Regardless, the majority of the 5+ minute video focuses on the lights on the ventilator that is breathing for Jahi. For a good portion of it, Jahi appears to be breathing faster than the 12 breaths-per-minute to which the machine is set, and the Patient Effort light occasionally blinks, indicating that Jahi is breathing on her own.

Or does it? ..."

"It would be painfully easy for anyone to verify the veracity of this video. It would take a pulmonologist less than five seconds to say either Yes or No. If an intensive care doctor examined her and said "She's breathing. Nope, not brain dead", I would have no choice but to believe it no matter how ludicrous."

60+ comments on ^.


.

 

[al66pine]

today's medicalfutility.blogspot.com by Prof Pope.

"Jahi McMath turns 16 years old today.

"She was declared dead in December 2013. She was 13 years old at the time. Since then, her organs have been artificially sustained in a private New Jersey home.

In ongoing separate state and federal lawsuits in San Francisco, Jahi's parents are seeking judicial declarations that she is now alive (again).

If they can do that, the case will be a compelling counterexample to the prevailing notion of brain death. Legally the concept requires that the cessation of brain function be "irreversible." If Jahi is now alive, then the way in which U.S. clinicians determine brain death is not legally sufficient."

(somehow, birthday balloons, smileys, and emojies do not seem appropriate, jmo.)

ETA
At blog, there is undated pic of her, w this, but no source:

&#8220;HappySweet 16 Jahi McMath You&#8217;re invited to tune in and wish Jahi a happy birthday.&#8221;

 

[al66pine]

"For three years, the family of Jahi McMath has made numerous public claims that she is alive.
The medical defendants in her malpractice lawsuit now want to rebut those claims by using evidence presented during hearings in December 2013. But those records are under seal. The family opposes the defendants' joint motion, citing Jahi's right to confidentiality. A hearing is scheduled for December 13, 2016."
^ from http://medicalfutility.blogspot.com/2016/12/jahi-mcmath-defendants-seek-to-unseal_5.html

Earlier, counsel for def- Dr. Fred Rosen made a motion to unseal transcripts of Dec 2013 hearings in which evidence was presented re Jahi's med condition/brain death. In motion below, def. UCSF Benihoff Children's Hospital of Oakland, incorporates by ref., Dr. Rosen's motion to unseal.
Pdf of def.-Hospital's motion re above, filed Nov 29, here:
http://thaddeuspope.com/images/UCSF_Joinder_to_Unseal_12-01-16.pdf (4 pages)

Pdf of ptf's motion here:
http://thaddeuspope.com/images/PTF_Opp_to_Unseal_11-29-16.pdf (37 pages)




http://thaddeuspope.com/braindeath/jahimcmath.html lists & links pdf's of ct doc's filed in the several cases re Jahi.

 

[al66pine]

{ETA: Dec 12, 2016 was three yr anniversary of Ms McMath's disputed death.}

http://medicalfutility.blogspot.com/2016/12/jahi-mcmath-federal-lawsuit-stayed.html
"... issued two rulings in Jahi McMath's federal lawsuit against the State of California and Alameda County.

"1. Rooker-Feldman Doctrine"

"The Rooker-Feldman doctrine bars federal courts from exercising subject-matter jurisdiction over a proceeding in which a party losing in state court seeks what in substance would be appellate review of the state judgment in federal court.
In 2013, the Alameda County Superior Court found that McMath had suffered brain death and was deceased..." per CA. statute.
"Therefore, the federal court held that McMath cannot now request a declaration that Ms. McMath &#8220;did not suffer, on December 13, 2013, irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem&#8221; and that McMath &#8220;was not ever &#8216;brain dead&#8217; by pertinent California statute.&#8221;

"...the court held that McMath can still bring her other claims, including a request to present to a court for the first time evidence of her neurological function subsequent to the issuance of her facially invalid death certificate."

"2. Pullman Abstention"
^ "... allows federal courts to refrain from deciding sensitive federal constitutional questions when state law issues may moot or narrow the constitutional questions."

"Because the McMath family's ongoing medical malpractice action in state court is proceeding and because the issues in this case are unique, the federal court stayed McMath's federal action pending the outcome in state court as to whether under California law a brain death diagnosis can or must be overturned based on subsequent evidence of brain function."

^ from http://medicalfutility.blogspot.com/#!/2016/12/jahi-mcmath-federal-lawsuit-stayed.html dated Dec. 15, Prof. Pope's blog.

IOW, IIUC, fed ct proceeding is 'on hold' until further some questions are resolved in CA. st ct proceedings.

 

[al66pine]

http://medicalfutility.blogspot.com/#!/2017/02/jahi-mcmath-hearing-to-unseal-2013.html (Feb 15) summarizes ruling on defendant Dr. Rosen's motion to unseal some records - pages of Ct-Reporter's Transcripts of Dec 23-24, 2013 hearings, in current medical practice case.

Excerpts from the tentative ruling granting the motion:

".... constitutional right of privacy in the evidence presented to Judge Grillo by the doctors who examined her in connection with Case No. RP13707598, she has waived that right with regard to the information disclosed in pages 6 through 47 of the December 24, 2013 hearing transcript by filing her medical malpractice action against Dr. Rosen and others...."
"....right of the public to access to information about Plaintiff's medical condition and the findings and conclusions of the doctors who examined her is not outweighed in this case by her right of privacy." bbm
^ Tentative Ruling on Unseal (Feb. 14, 2017)


Professor Pope's list w other links to pdf's of ct-filed doc's, briefs, ct-rulings: http://thaddeuspope.com/braindeath/jahimcmath.html

 

[al66pine]

"This week, one of the medical defendants in Jahi McMath's medical malpractice action filed a case management statement.

"It states that an IME (Independent Medical Exam) will be completed by 04/30/17. This means that the defendants (jointly or individually) plan to have one or more retained independent medical experts physically examine Jahi in New Jersey."

http://medicalfutility.blogspot.com/#!/2017/03/jahi-mcmath-assess-whether-she-is-alive.html. Mar 17, 2017

 

[al66pine]

April 6 blog entry at http://www.docbastard.net/ summarizes info from below Rosen case mgmt stmt.

And see http://thaddeuspope.com/braindeath/jahimcmath.html .

MedMal Prac case, filed by mother.
http://thaddeuspope.com/images/Winkfield_case_mgmt_statement_Mar_2017_.pdf
http://thaddeuspope.com/images/UCSF_case_mgmt_statement_Mar_2017_.pdf
http://thaddeuspope.com/images/Rosen_case_mgmt_statement_Mar_2017_.pdf
http://thaddeuspope.com/images/Wesman_case_mgmt_statement_Mar_2017_.pdf
http://thaddeuspope.com/images/Herrera_case_mgmt_statement_Mar_2017_.pdf

 

[watcher9]

In what is believed to be a world first, scientists have reversed brain damage in a toddler that drowned in a swimming pool.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/health/hea...brain-damage-in-drowned-us-toddler/ar-AAoqZiA

 

[watcher9]

An overview of what's going on.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireSt...california-girl-fights-reverse-death-48823445

 

[Bently]

(I cannot find the main thread for this case? Has it been shut down?)

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-brain-dead-girl-20170907-story.html

Jahi McMath, girl declared brain dead three years ago, might still be technically alive, judge says Sep 7, 2017 article

"A California judge has ruled that a teenage girl declared brain-dead more than three years ago after a tonsillectomy may still be technically alive, allowing a malpractice lawsuit against the hospital to proceed.

Alameda County Judge Stephen Pulido ruled Tuesday that it's up to a jury to determine whether Jahi McMath is alive, which would increase the amount of damages if jurors decide in the family's favor.

The family is seeking damages from Children's Hospital in Oakland for allegedly botching a routine operation to remove the girl's tonsils in December 2013. The family is also demanding a ruling that Jahi is alive and for the hospital to pay for her future care. She was 13 when the operation was conducted."

After a judge ruled that California doctors could remove the girl from life support, her mother took Jahi to New Jersey, the only U.S. state that accommodates religions that do not recognize brain death. She is on life support in a New Jersey apartment, where she receives medical care.

Court records show that New Jersey Medicaid has picked up some of the girl's healthcare costs.

 

[watcher9]

Looks like same article from another link.

Judge opens door for lawsuit over girl declared brain dead

"In ordering the case to trial, Pulido relied on the testimony of a well-known critic of diagnosing brain death, Dr. Alan Shewmon.

In court documents filed in July, the retired UCLA neurologist said videos recorded by Jahi's family from 2014 to 2016 showed the teen was still alive.

The images, some made public by the girl's relatives, show Jahi twitching her fingers and reacting to odors that Shewmon and her relatives said were noxious without providing more specifics. Shewmon said Jahi's body has not deteriorated as expected.

A doctor who examines the girl every three months for the family has testified that Jahi reached puberty and menstruated while in New Jersey."

http://www.wtoc.com/story/36313198/judge-opens-door-for-lawsuit-over-girl-declared-brain-dead

 

[Hiandmighty]

A jury will decide of Jahi McMath is still dead:

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Judge-Oakland-jury-will-decide-if-Jahi-McMath-is-12180671.php

 

[Tricia]

Sometime Sunday I will open a new thread for discussion.

Thank you,
Tricia

 

[stormshine]

Article with what looks like new photos.
http://m.newser.com/story/248321/judge-girl-declared-dead-may-legally-be-alive.html