Jahi McMath, Children's Hospital Oakland Enter Mediation
Jahi McMath's family and representatives of the Children's Hospital Oakland have entered into mediation ordered by a federal judge. Both groups will be allowed to present their cases to the judge, who will then try to figure out a solution to their problem that will benefit, or please, both sides. In this case, it is whether Jahi should be kept on life support until her family can arrange transfer to another facility.
The McMath family has been at odds with Children's Hospital ever since Jahi was declared brain dead in early December. The hospital wants to remove her life support and allow her to fully die, but the McMath family wants her kept alive, as they believe she can make a full recovery and want her transferred to a long-term care facility.
"We understand the suffering and grieving that is occurring right now, but their attorney and the family have been unable to produce a physician, transportation or a facility that would accept a deceased body on a ventilator," Sam Singer, a public relations consultant for the hospital told NBC News.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
However, the family said through their lawyer that Jahi has been accepted by the New Beginnings Center in Medford, New York and that Medway Air Ambulance had submitted a $27,950 quote to transfer Jahi and a doctor to the center. Unfortunately, the family has had trouble finding a doctor willing to insert a feeding tube and perform a tracheotomy to keep Jahi breathing during the transfer.
The hospital has been given permission to turn off life support on Tuesday, January 7. It has been a long month of back-and-forth between the McMath family and the hospital. Both have insisted that they want what is in the best interest of the 13-year-old who suffered complications after a routine tonsillectomy. Hopefully the mediation will bring some sense of closure to the situation and offer peace to the McMath family and all those involved in the situation.
