Family Law Focus – Cozen O'Connor

Parental vs. Medical Decisionmaking

Last week I appeared on The O’Reilly Factor on Fox News Channel  to comment about the tragic case of Jahi McMath.  Jahi is the 13 year old California girl who had what was supposed to be a routine tonsillectomy on December 9th but suffered complications during the surgery and has now been declared brain dead.

Anyone who is a parent can understand the devastation suffered by Jahi’s parents who refuse to accept the conclusion of the medical professionals nike air max tailwind 7.  They filed a lawsuit to keep Jahi on life support with the hope that by some miracle, she would be revived.  That miracle has not occurred yet, and the hospital has the right to discontinue life support by 5pm on Monday according to the current Court Order.

Presently, Jahi’s family is scrambling to find a medical facility that will take Jahi so that she can continue to be sustained on life support.  Two facilities already withdrew their initial offers to take her.  Now there is a third facility in New York that is contemplating whether or not to take her mens nike air max 2016.  If  they accept her, there is still the issue of the procedure to insert a breathing tube and feeding tube so that she can be transported.  Many doctors refuse to operate on a person already deemed to be legally dead.

This case presents another instance of the occasional struggle between parental and medical decisionmaking.  We know for sure that parents sometimes face legal consequences for failing to treat their children when a medical cure is possible.  Yet, here we face the issue of whether parents have the right to continue to treat their children even after the medical professionals have determined there is no hope for recovery.   This case should soon give us some guidance.

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