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.shutterstock_76186042

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About Family Law Focus
The Family Law Focus blog provides highlights, updates and insights on complex family disputes including divorce, division of property, and alimony; child and spousal support; child custody; domestic violence; pre- and post-nuptial agreements; name changes; and adoption or termination of parental rights.
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Attorney Jennifer A. Brandt, chair of Cozen O'Connor's Family Law practice, has represented a wide variety of clients in hundreds of family law cases in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Jennifer is a regular legal commentator on national and local television outlets such as CNN, Fox New Network, HLN, MSNBC, Fox29, ABC News, NBC and CBS and frequently writes and contributes to articles in numerous publications, including the Huffington Post, Fox Business.com, The PhiIly Post, Avvo.com, Allparenting.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Philadelphia Business Journal, the National Law Journal, and Main Line Today magazine.
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