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I was ambivalent about this until I got to the part where father and daughter had had previous discussions in which they agreed neither of them wanted to donate
by smeej 3y ago
I was ambivalent about this until I got to the part where father and daughter had had previous discussions in which they agreed neither of them wanted to donate their organs, him because of his direct personal exposure to the process itself.
If the deceased patient had not wanted to donate her organs in the past, unless they had constructive proof that she had later changed her mind, it shouldn't have mattered whether either of her parents would consent to their donation.
If she had been registered as a donor by the time of her death, sure, the question of death becomes extremely relevant. But if she had not wanted to donate her organs, her organs ought not have been donated when she died, regardless of whether that happened before or after the hospital discontinued life support.
- ceejayoz 3y agoI wish the article indicated if she was or was not on the registry. The father's claimed conversation about donation is when she was "eight or nine"; I certainly wouldn't want medical decisions made on what I said as a pre-teen.
- friend_and_foe 3y agoUsually, for me, leaving information like that out is a strong indicator that the reader would not come to the same conclusions as the author if they were aware of said information.
- throwaway5752 3y agoEveryone appears to be blindly accepting the father's word, even though he appears to have substance abuse issues and stands to become a millionaire based on the outcome of this case. At some point you have to conside the role of the author of this piece. It appears in this case they'd already decided to write about this case, could not get statements from the mother or doctors/hospital involved, and decided to largely base it on the word of the father, his trial lawyers ("Thornton Davidson, Mike’s lawyer, is surprisingly accessible thanks to a puckish, wry wit") and biased sources like the Catholic Medical Association. The filler about Jahi McMath is awful, and largely avoids the complex family dynamics and the eventual multiorgan failure that led to her own family pulling the plug on her several years later. The father is grieving her suicide and unable to process it because of people willing to use his cause to advance their political or monetary interests. It is a tragic story, but not for the reasons the article puts forth.
- fallinghawks 3y agoI find all this kind of strange. She was an adult, and perfectly capable of putting herself on the donor registry. It's a checkbox, IIRC, on your driver's license application or renewal. Why then did the parents have any decision making power on it? As much as the father sounds a bit unhinged, I wonder if the hospital really was trying all avenues to get her organs donated.
- ceejayoz 3y ago> Why then did the parents have any decision making power on it? Because there's not a "I don't want to be a donor" registry. Some countries make it an explicit opt out, which I think is a much better approach.
- smeej 3y agoThis article actually prompted me to have a conversation with my healthcare proxy/next of kin, telling her in writing that this is why I am not registered as an organ donor, though I am fine with her deciding to donate my organs if she is satisfied that I am deceased.