brain death

19 Stories

Consciousness May Occur After Heart, Brain Flatline

Brain signals support idea of near-death experiences amid cardiac arrest: study

(Newser) - Their hearts and brains had flatlined. Yet as doctors tried to revive their "technically dead" patients, some of those patients were aware of what was going on. One patient recalled people placing electrodes on their chest and feeling the subsequent shock, per the National Post . Others "were able...

Court: Life-Support Treatment Not in Archie's 'Best Interests'

UK Court of Appeal refuses to block hospital from turning off Archie Battersbee's ventilator

(Newser) - A British court on Monday refused to block a hospital from ending life-support treatment for a 12-year-old boy who has suffered catastrophic brain damage . The parents of Archie Battersbee have fought unsuccessfully in the courts to prevent the Royal London Hospital from turning off the boy's ventilator and stopping...

'Extraordinary Case' Leads to Record-Setting Pregnancy

Healthy baby girl born in Czech Republic to brain-dead mom who'd suffered stroke 117 days earlier

(Newser) - For nearly four months, Czech medical staff kept a brain-dead pregnant woman on life support, touching her stomach, moving her legs to simulate walking, and talking to her unborn child. On Aug. 15, the fruit of their efforts was born: a healthy baby girl, weighing 4 pounds, 11 ounces and...

Jahi McMath's Mom Says It Was All Worth It

She says she gave everything up for daughter

(Newser) - The mother of a girl at the center of a medical and religious debate over brain death says she does not regret moving from California to New Jersey so her daughter could receive care after being declared dead, the AP reports. Nailah Winkfield told reporters Tuesday that she gave up...

Jahi McMath Declared Dead in New Jersey

Family says she died after recent surgery

(Newser) - After more than four years of insisting her daughter was still alive, Jahi McMath's mother is grieving. Nailah Winkfield says Jahi—who was declared brain dead in California after routine tonsil surgery in December 2013, when she was 13—died in New Jersey last week from excessive bleeding and...

He Has a Death Certificate. His Family Says He's Still Alive

They're fighting to keep Shalom Ouanounou on life support in Canada

(Newser) - A man will remain on life support in Canada for the time being, despite the fact that his death certificate has already been issued. Toronto's Shalom Ouanounou, 25, was declared brain dead three days after suffering an asthma attack on Sept. 27, reports the Canadian Press . But while Canadian...

After Months of Fighting, Toddler Abruptly Taken Off Life Support

'He's gone,' says mom

(Newser) - Israel Stinson, 2, had a bad asthma attack on April 1, went into cardiac arrest, and was declared brain-dead at UC Davis Medical Center. Nearly five months of legal battling ensued, as the California toddler's parents—who did not agree with the prognosis—fought to keep him on life...

Brain-Dead Boy's Family: Keep Him on Life Support

'He's very much alive,' says mom

(Newser) - Two-year-old Israel Stinson was declared brain-dead in early April after an asthma attack sent him into cardiac arrest. According to California law, he was to be removed from life support soon after. There's just one problem: "He's very much alive," mom Jonee Fonseca tells FOX40 . Fonseca...

Goal of Clinical Trial: Reverse Human Death

Researchers hope to revive brains of the clinically dead

(Newser) - Scientists are predicting "the eventual reversal of death in our lifetime," and a new clinical trial could take us one step closer to that goal. The National Institutes of Health has approved "the first trial of its kind" by US biotech company Bioquark to attempt to revive...

Uncle: Jahi McMath 'Knows Where She Is'

Girl declared brain-dead shows signs of life, he says

(Newser) - Jahi McMath's family insists that the girl who has been declared brain-dead is very much alive. "She definitely knows where she is and that we're present," uncle Omari Sealy tells the San Francisco Chronicle . He says the 13-year-old remains unconscious but turns in the direction of...

Brain-Dead Woman's Baby Safely Delivered

Canadian dies soon after healthy son born

(Newser) - Joy and sorrow for Dylan Benson of Victoria, British Columbia: He welcomed a healthy baby son into the world on Saturday night, but had to say goodbye to wife Robyn soon afterward. She was declared brain dead late last year after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage while five months pregnant and...

Pregnant, Brain-Dead Canadian on Life Support

Unborn baby has good chance of survival

(Newser) - Around a month from now, Dylan Benson of Victoria, BC, will lose his wife and—hopefully—gain a son on the same day. Wife Robyn was declared brain dead after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage at the end of December; she had complained of a headache then collapsed at home. She...

Texas Husband Named Brain-Dead Wife's Fetus

Doctors think Nicole Munoz was a girl

(Newser) - Before a Texas hospital took his pregnant wife off life support Sunday, Erick Munoz asked doctors to do one last sonogram. "They think it was a female," Munoz tells the AP of the 23-week-old fetus, his second child with Marlise Munoz. He named the fetus Nicole, Marlise's...

Fetus in Texas Life Support Case 'Distinctly Abnormal'

Lawyers say they have medical records to that end

(Newser) - The 22-week-old fetus of the pregnant Texas woman being kept on life support against her wishes is "distinctly abnormal," lawyers for Marlise Munoz 's family say. The attorneys say they have medical records showing as much, and want to clear up any "misconceptions about the condition...

Enough: This Girl Is Dead



 Enough: 
 This Girl 
 Is Dead 
OPINION
Jan 16, 2014 1:22 PM CST

Enough: This Girl Is Dead

The Jahi McMath case is a 'disgrace,' Meghan Daum argues

(Newser) - The media has been sickeningly "balanced" in its handling of the Jahi McMath case , giving supposed experts (generally religious extremists) the platform to foster the delusion that the girl has a chance of waking up. "But this is no longer a story that requires balance," writes Meghan...

Lawyer Claims Brain-Dead Teen's 'Health Is Improving'

Dolan defends role in tragic case

(Newser) - The California 13-year-old declared dead after tonsil surgery is getting better at the undisclosed facility where she was moved earlier this week, family lawyer Christopher Dolan claims. Jahi McMath has had feeding and tracheostomy tubes inserted and "doctors are optimistic that her condition has stabilized and that her health...

Hospital Refuses to Unplug Brain-Dead Pregnant Woman

Marlise Munoz didn't want to be kept on life support, says family

(Newser) - Paramedics Marlise and Erick Munoz of Crowley, Texas, had good reason to talk about their own end-of-life wishes, and Erick says his wife made it clear that she would never want to be kept on life support if there was no chance of recovery, reports the Dallas Morning News . And...

'Brain Dead' Might Not Mean Brain Dead After All

Study detects activity even after a flat EEG line

(Newser) - An intriguing new study out of Montreal might redefine our concept of being "brain dead." Researchers for the first time think that the brain remains active even in patients whose EEG lines have gone flat, reports the Los Angeles Times . The study sprang from an unusual case in...

ERs Grab Organs Faster From Accident Victims

Controversial program looks to increase transplants

(Newser) - A federal project exploring the securing of donor organs from patients who die in emergency rooms is raising questions of medical ethics. Traditionally, organs are not taken from ER patients and are removed only after all brain activity has ceased. The project, under way at two Pittsburgh hospitals, aims to...

19 Stories