Family of 'brain-dead' girl asks court to overturn ruling, cites tests showing response
October 06, 2014
The family of a California girl who was declared “brain-dead” last December are asking a court order reversing that declaration, citing new studies that show her responding to stimuli.
Jahi McMath was declared legally dead after she suffered cardiac arrest due to complications in surgery. But her parents insisted that the 13-year-old girl is alive, and successfully blocked a hospital’s bid to remove her from life-support systems.
Now the International Brain Death Research Foundation, after conducting tests, has found that Jahi McMath has responded to simple commands. The tests also show that there is a blood supply to parts of her brain, and a brain scan showed electrical activity. One doctor asserted that she is not only alive but awake, albeit severely disabled.
A court ruling that Jahi McMath is alive would be a new legal precedent. To date, determination of “brain death” has never been legally reversed.
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