Pretend I'm driving along with my kids when a driver runs a stop sign and t-bones me. My daughter is put on life support and continues to fail. She is declared brain dead. I give approval to take her off life support. Can the other driver say he didn't kill her, but I did? Legally, who killed my daughter?
Since it was an accident what difference would it make? Are you asking because of trying to get a lawsuit filed or wrongful death suit?
was your daughter put on life support as a result of the accident? if so then he did, if not, you did. -my opinion.
Uh, I think it's a hypothetical. Orly isn't really the sort of person who'd be on the internet posting after the death of a child. She's just as morbid as I am. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! But, yeah, it's the other driver's fault your child is dead. Braindead = dead. You just accepted it, in that case.
"Dying patients are routinely put into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), where they are connected to several different machines at once. But when it becomes clear that recovery is not going to happen, and/or if the patient finds the burdens of life-support intolerable, then the machines are turned off and death takes place. In fact, disconnecting life-support systems has become so routine that this action is seldom mentioned on death-certificates. The death is recorded as having been caused by the underlying disease or condition that put the patient into the hospital in the first place. Disconnecting the life-supports was simply the last step in the medical care." http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/CY-L-END.html
withdrawal of treatment (ANY treatment) doesnt absolve guilt from the responcable party. For instance say a JW comes into an A&E with hypovolemic shock due to a car crash where a drunk driver speed through a red light. The JW refuses transfusion and because of this they die on the operating table. The legal responcability for that death (assuming no medical negligence to complicate the situation) rests with the drunk driver NOT with the injured pt.
Brain dead is legally dead, so she died before the life support machines were switched off. The other driver is responsible.
um james, it actually doesnt matter if it was before or after. Withdrawl of medical consent doesnt absolve someone from a murder charge
Um, Asguard, I didn't say it did. But this is a clear cut case whether the issue of medical intervention doesn't even arise.
Depends. Was she conciosu when she got to the hospital and a failed medical procedure put her in the brain dead coma? Here's one that you think would be clearer. Jimmy is at a party when his girlfriends ex shows up and starts attacking him, pushing him down a flight of stairs and then beats him over the head with a 2x4 untill it breaks. Then he starts kicking him in the head. Jimmy goes to the hospital where he is on life support with miminal brain activity. almost a month later he drown in his own vomit thanks to an improperly down aspiration. Who killed Jimmy?
Technically, it wasn't the ex, but since he was in his comatose (I'm guessing) state as a direct result of the ex boyfriend, I can only assume that he would take at least partial blame for it. I think that would be called wrongful death, when you deliberately or through carelessness contribute to someone's death, even if you aren't directly and immediately responsible. I can't see how it could be called anything else.
Actually according to our legfal system he had aggravated assault and the hospital even escaped blame for the botched procedure. Beleve me, it happened to my cousin.
If Jimmy's girlfriend's ex goes to the party with the definite intention of killing Jimmy--which it's pretty obvious he did, considering that he kept on smashing the guy in the head long after he needed to in order to merely render him helpless--then the ex-boyfriend should be arrested for murder, regardless of how long it takes for a person to die, or who finally turns of the switch to his life-support. All fancy legal BS aside, the original attacker had to intention to kill, and should be dealt with accordingly.
The other driver put an end to her consciousness. You put an end to her body. Chance brought the three of you together.
Correction: The other driver put an end to her consciousness. You put an end to her life. The end of her body is dependent on whether she is cremated or buried. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please note the progression of self: from matter to body, from body to life, from life to consciousness, from consciousness to awareness, from awareness to knowledge, from knowledge to imagination, from imagination to the infinite, from the infinite to enlightenment. From enlightenment to creation.
