I refer readers to a post by one of my colleagues, Wesley J. Smith. He comments on the ongoing debate over the "brain death" of Jahi McMath, the child who suffered brain damage during a surgical procedure in California in 2013. She was declared brain dead, although her family has continued to support her (feed her, etc.) and several doctors have contradicted the original diagnosis of brain death.

I have no personal knowledge of the case. Perhaps she is brain dead, and her family and supporters are in error. If indeed she is not brain dead, then the diagnosis of brain death is a very serious medical error and the obstinate persistence in this error, despite evidence that she is not dead, is criminal.

If she is not brain dead, there would be several reasons for declaring her brain dead and persisting in that error or lie:

1) Stupidity.

2) A general devaluation of the life of handicapped people.

3) She’s cheaper in a lawsuit — once she is declared dead, expenses incurred by her family for her support will probably not be factors in the financial judgment.

Again, I have no direct knowledge of this situation. But brain death is an easy diagnosis to make (I’ve made it hundreds of times), and mistakes should be very rare and should be corrected immediately if made.

If she is not brain dead, heads should roll. As I pointed out above, there are motives for lying about her condition, and if these are indeed lies, action against the licenses of the doctors involved is imperative, and criminal charges for persisting in the lie should be considered.

Furthermore, the Americans with Disabilities Act would seem to protect severely handicapped people from discrimination, and declaring them corpses when they are not would certainly seem to be "discrimination."

Image by Tomasz Sienicki [user: tsca, mail: tomasz.sienicki at gmail.com] (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.