The mother of a California teenager seeks to continue the fight to keep her daughter on life support despite being declared brain dead following a surgery that went wrong. The daughter was declared dead two years ago by a California coroner but has continued to be kept alive using a ventilator following being moved out of state to New Jersey which allows the family to keep a member alive due to religious concerns even if brain death has been declared. However, a California court disagreed with the mother and refused to retract the death deceleration following the testimony of three doctors who all stated that the girl had no brain function and no chance of regaining any. Currently. a suit is pending before a US District Court claiming that the state is violating the due process rights and religious liberty of the family and that the girl does show signs of having brain activity although medical professionals have described the movements as involuntary spasms. No word yet on when a ruling will be handed down on the matter.
See Katherine Proctor, Family Wants Brain-Dead Girl Declared Alive, Courthouse News, December 24, 2015.
Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
