I Suppose We Can Blame Religion and Lawyers

[howeird]

There's a local news story which has made international headlines. One of the reasons it has made headlines is the Media has, as often they do, simplified the story, making it seem like more of a dilemma than it really is.

An obese 13-year-old was in the hospital to have complicated surgery to try to mitigate her sleep apnea. It starts with a tonsillectomy, and continues to adenoid removal and finally trimming some of the tissue near the back of the throat. It is not a simple operation, and it is not a low-risk procedure. And it is rarely done on children.

But the Media keeps reporting it as a simple tonsillectomy, which we all know as a low-risk operation commonly performed on children.

Something went horribly wrong, and in the recovery room blood started gushing from her throat. It was sudden and massive and she had a heart attack. Though she was in a hospital, medical attention did not arrive in time to save her. She was put on a ventilator, but it was too late, her brain had been without oxygen for too long, and she was declared brain-dead.

Her mother could not believe her daughter was dead, declared that God would perform a miracle, hired a lawyer who managed to emotionally sway a judge to order to hospital to keep the girl on the ventilator.

A doctor appointed by the judge examined the girl and confirmed she was brain dead. But the lawyer convinced the judge two more times to keep the girl on the machine, while the family finds a facility which will accept her on life support indefinitely.

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The girl is dead. Nothing is going to bring her back. But her faith in God's miracles is unshakable, and her lawyer's  15 minutes of fame is bolstering her faith.

I can understand the mother's shock and refusal to accept what has happened.

Part of the irony is that until they can perform and autopsy, they can't explain what happened. And until Mom decides to let her daughter rest in peace, they can't do an autopsy.