Jahi McMath Hearing Delayed; Expert Testifies Teen is Still Dead Despite Her Breathing and Eating Through Tubes
The court hearing to possibly reverse a declaration of death has been postponed due to testimony by a court-appointed independent neurologist.
Jahi McMath, 13, was declared dead earlier this year after tests showed that she had no brain activity. McMath suffered complications after a routine tonsillectomy; while Oakland Children's Hospital in California wanted to remove life support, her family fought and won an injunction, then had her transferred to a facility in New Jersey where she is kept on breathing and feeding tubes and given 24-hour care.
Her parents posted video of Jahi moving her feet and hands on command, and a neurologist testified that Jahi was "extremely disabled but very much alive." Dr. Alan Shewmon, professor emeritus in neurology at UCLA testified that the teen was "not only alive, but now also awake."
Get Our Latest News for FREE
He cited studies and physical changes such as menstruation as evidence that Jahi was still alive and should be legally labeled as such. However, the court-appointed independent neurologist wrote a letter to the judge stating that the family's evidence is not sufficient to prove that Jahi is actually alive. Dr. Paul Fisher, head of Stanford Hospital's division of child neurology was the one to declare her brain-dead last year.
He wrote that the new documentation, such as videos and tests cited by Dr. Shewmon, was not relevant to the case and that a particular neurological test had not been performed. Other tests performed by various physicians had not been conducted, which is needed for the court to consider. He submitted the letter on Wednesday, Oct. 8, just one day before the hearing was to be held. The attorney representing Jahi's family has requested a delay in the proceedings in order to process Dr. Fisher's letter.
"We want to address any concerns that Dr. Fisher has in an effort to demonstrate that, with an open and transparent dialogue between health care professionals, only one conclusion can remain—that Jahi McMath is not brain-dead," attorney Christopher Dolan told the Associated Press. "There wasn't time to react to this letter. Given the fact that we were up against the time crunch … I thought that we were going to be, in essence, sandbagged."
No date has been set for a future court date, but the family has requested at least four weeks' time to respond to Dr. Fisher's letter.
