The Story of Jahi Continues

OrganizedChaos, LVN · Mar 4, 2015

It seems like the family is changing their story to go with whatever will get them money.

If I recall correctly back a year ago, the nurse family member stated no one was around when Jahi started bleeding so she took it into her own hands & started suctioning. But *now* they are saying the nurses told them to suction.

Hmmm, sounds funny to me!

TheGooch · Mar 4, 2015

Family of Jahi McMath sues doctor, Oakland hospital over brain damage - LA Times
I am very interested by this part of the story, and I hope if the trial moves forward we can hear more testimony from this nurse.

I doubt it will go to trial. They will probably settle out of court to prevent any more "distress" to this family. Of course if it does we will never know the size of the settlement.

I guess the GoFundMe account ain't bringing in the bacon these days.

Red Kryptonite · Mar 4, 2015

I doubt it will go to trial. They will probably settle out of court to prevent any more "distress" to this family. Of course if it does we will never know the size of the settlement.
I guess the GoFundMe account ain't bringing in the bacon these days.

God I hope not. I am sick of companies paying out "shut up money." That only encourages more lawsuits! It rewards this crappy behavior. Whatever behavior you reward increases.

Gooselady, BSN, RN · Mar 4, 2015

Well, perhaps we will get an official look at what happened. Of course, the hospital will now have the opportunity to defend itself through the medical record.
I have my opinions on how the family has reacted and behaved after the fact, but I have always withheld judgment on whether or not there was negligence, because without hearing both sides of the story, it's impossible to do so. If there was a mistake or mistakes made in SOP, the family has a right to know this. If not, the hospital will finally get redemption.

My thoughts, too.

The premise of the family against the hospital is that she bled for five hours before 'anyone did anything about it'. That is how they saw and interpreted the situation, which is only part of what actually happened. I've read twice now that Jahi was given solid food by the family, but as much as I've looked I haven't ever seen this mentioned anywhere but HERE -- so if anyone has any links (to anything) about this, I'd love to have them. I doubt the family is the source of this information, it is too damning to THEM, as a possible cause of the bleeding, so the nursing staff must have known? Or maybe the family IS indeed so oblivious they mentioned it?

This is the kind of stuff that ought to be revealed if this goes to trial. I kind of hope it DOES go to trial, because this is the only way the rest of us are going to be able to make decent conclusions! I need more information, anyway.

It could be that the family accidentally started this whole cascade of tragic events by feeding her solids and poking around with a yankauer suction tip when she couldn't swallow. This is VERY important, I would think.

Even if this is exactly what happened, it doesn't necessarily put all the 'blame' on the family. It doesn't explain why she was 'allowed by the nursing staff' to bleed for 5 hours OR bled so catastrophically her lungs were emptied of 2 liters of blood. Plain old 'tragedy' could account for this too, it's listed on every pre-procedure consent form

The news person at the beginning of the video used the term 'botched surgery', which is the first I've heard that the surgery itself was not in itself 'successful'. I wonder if this was just a careless mistake on the part of the news guy or if the lawsuit implies the surgical procedure itself was done incorrectly? So many questions. It's a terrible waste of time and taxpayer money for this to go to trial but because it's become a nationwide (perhaps world wide) controversy, I see how a trial would be a good thing for everyone concerned.

deflowerkidRN · Mar 4, 2015

I have been following this story from the beginning, and I hope we get more information about what really happened. But I also noted that she claims "hospital employees" approached her about organ donation. I haven't worked at many places, but is this not the complete responsibility of the OPO? Just a thought.

icuRNmaggie, BSN, RN · Mar 4, 2015

Approximately a year ago, there was an article in the NY times which was highly critical of the hospital and under the comments section, a person, probably an employee, wrote a well written rebuttal which described very factually and in great detail what happened that day post operatively in the Peds ICU.

Because of the extent of the surgery, the pt was not allowed to talk and was given a white board for communication. The pt wrote "I'm hungry" The Grandmother brought in and fed her a hamburger. The pt bled immediately and the grandmother who is an LPN, was belligerent, used a Yankauer suction despite being told to not to do so and threatened the PICU nurse. The pt hemorrhaged and and code blue was called. It was a difficult prolonged and traumatic intubation.

This is a terrible tragedy for everyone involved. The reason the post in the NYT rings true is because the Grandmother has kept silent, knowing now that she is responsible the events of that day and the death of her granddaughter. It must be a terrible burden to carry that secret as well as to have to watch opportunistic family members trying to profit from the death of one's grandchild.

JustBeachyNurse, LPN · Mar 4, 2015

Grandma was very vocal initially until other patient families started speaking about what they witnessed in the picu first hand (talking, feeding, suctioning, berating staff, belligerent family). I heard the grandmother has retired her LVN license.

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Mar 4, 2015

Yes, the hamburger story was started by someone claiming to be visiting their own family member in the same recovery area as the McMath family.

scaredsilly, BSN, RN · Mar 4, 2015

In the lawsuit filed yesterday, I noted two things that were extremely suspicious (besides the obvious slurs again what is known to be an outstanding hospital).

First, Jahi's father Milton McMath is named as a defendant.

Second, Mama Nails is applying to be guardial ad litem.

This makes no sense, why would she need any sort of guardianship when she is the custodial parent.

After speaking to some legal buddies of mine, there is only one answer that makes any sort of sense at all. It is quite possible that Jahi's father is wanting to put an end to this. He may very well be wanting to finally pull the plug and Nails is trying to derail him. Pretty much nothing else makes sense. I hope we hear something from him, he has been pretty quiet through all of this.

At the very least, CHO now gets a chance to tell their side of this and I think we are going to get an entirely different story than what the scamfam has been saying all along!

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Mar 4, 2015

After speaking to some legal buddies of mine, there is only one answer that makes any sort of sense at all. It is quite possible that Jahi's father is wanting to put an end to this. He may very well be wanting to finally pull the plug and Nails is trying to derail him. Pretty much nothing else makes sense. I hope we hear something from him, he has been pretty quiet through all of this.

Interesting theory.

icuRNmaggie, BSN, RN · Mar 4, 2015

The guardian ad litem has complete control of minor child's or an incapacitated person's financial matters.

scaredsilly, BSN, RN · Mar 4, 2015

The guardian ad litem has complete control of minor child's or an incapacitated person's financial matters.

This is true, however so does a custodial guardian unless the other parent attempts to step in. Besides, Jahi has no financial matters, if the scamily recovers in a law suit, the plaintiffs are the mother and step father, not Jahi.