A judge heard arguments today in the case of a 12-year-old boy who was declared dead by Children’s National Medical Center, but he held off making a decision until he can hear from the family and medical experts Thursday.
The parents of Motl Brody, who remains in the hospital’s intensive-care unit, did not attend a hearing this morning in D.C. Superior Court. Motl has been at the hospital since June 1 and was diagnosed with brain cancer. The hospital says that he has no sign of brain activity, meeting the legal definition for death in the District. Doctors declared him dead Tuesday.
The hospital is asking Judge William Jackson to affirm its judgment that the boy can be taken off life-sustaining equipment. Earlier today, the hospital supplied medical records to the family’s attorney.
The judge ordered both sides to return to court Thursday, to allow the family’s attorney, Jeffrey Zuckerman, to review the five boxes of hospital records in preparation for a more extensive hearing. The parents could testify at that time; the hospital has lined up several experts to explain its position.
Motl’s parents, Orthodox Jews from Brooklyn, are challenging the hospital’s pronouncement of death based on the absence of brain activity. Their faith does not define death in that way, and they note that Motl still has respiratory and circulatory functions, albeit with mechanical assistance.
(Source: Washington Post)
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19 Responses
As I personally know the kid and his family B”H they will win over those horrible doctors may Hashem bless him and his whole
Yechi Motl Brodi
#1 The doctors are not “horrible”. Perhaps not compassionate, but not horrible. Without Halocho to guide them, why shouldn’t they decide according to their guidelines? may The Rofeh Kol Bossor send a refuoh shleimoh to the child, and a deioh yeshoroh to the judge
Yeshuas Hashem K’Eref Eyin
Someone previously posted a letter to the hospital, mentioning a miraculous recovery by someone who was in a coma. Have there been reported instances of people recovering once their brain activity has ceased??
Motl and his Family should be well…
May the boy’s family win and may he have a yeshua and refua
#3 remember, the Heilige Gemorrah in the end of Kiddushin sagt, “Tov She’Rofim L’Gehonim”
This is a case in Point
Does anyone know the name for T’hilim?
It is written that “Afilu cherev chada…” even if the blade is on your neck pray to hashem and he will help. We will pray and he will live.
#6 It is true that his parents themselves where not ther since July but that is because they were advised not to go. Motl is NEVER left alone. We (The family) make sure there is someone there all the time.
#9 thank you for asking it is Mordechai Dov Ben Miriam Shaindel.
#6 flatbusher
please!
who cares if its true or not, it makes NO difference, in halacha, hashkafa or moraly!!
The doctors are not “horrible”. Perhaps not compassionate, but not horrible.
Thank you for addressing this truly important point. What would those poor doctors do without your help?
would it be a appropriate for people to show up in court on thurday QUIETLY AND CALMLY just to show the judge there is support. By law any letter the judge recieves about a case he must read maybe everyone should forward letters to the judge. NOT ANGRY ONES respectful informative ones
The following is an email I’ve sent today to the hospital:
“Shalom
I live in Israel, and read the story about your patient, Motl Brody, whom you want to disconnect from the life support machine and stop providing medication.
While I understand that in your opinion, that child is dead – this child and his parents are Jewish. And according to Jewish law – he is alive. Thus, disconnecting him from the machine, is defined by them – murder.
I’m sure, you wish only the best for you patients, and make all you can to keep them healthy and alive. This is after all your duty as medical workers and this is what you perform.
However, to define what is life and what is death, is not the task of doctors.
When a whole people – the Jewish people – testifies for already 3319 years, that they were given in Sinai Torah (=instructions) by the Creator of the world how to behave in His creation, and inter alia, His Torah defines when a person is dead – you have no stand to contradict this tradition. You may disbelief the historical evidence of the Sinai revelation, but you cannot deny the right of an entire nation to hold on to this tradition.
Doctor’s duty is technical – to cure patients. To decide that death is not as the entire nation of Isreal defines it to be – is not in your jurisdiction.
You can say, that it’s too expensive for you to treat a patient, and you’d rather spend the money on other patients. You cannot however decide that a patient is dead, in order to save money, and keep him breathing with a machine until you cut his heart to transplant in another patient. Because by doing so, one suspects that the determination that a patient is dead, is not because you know for certain what is death and that he is dead, but because you want to keep him alive until you can transplant his heart, or you want to stop treatment because you decide that such kind of life is not worth the money invested to keep it going.
Another thing. I protest your public announcement that the boy’s parents didn’t visit him since July, while in other matters you hold back information on the pretext of privacy of the patient. More so, your announcement distorted the truth, mainly, that there wasn’t a moment since the boy is your patient, without relatives or friends of his parents stayed next to him. Also, stating what you stated without adding that the parents live far away and have another 6 children to take care – is misleading.
Given the above facts, no doubt your announcement was made in order to smear the faces of miserable parents, adding to their agony, done as means of propaganda to support your partisan interests.
May the Almighty have mercy on Motl Brody and decide what’s best for him, and may He give you wisdom to act properly and in a human way.
Respectfully
…”
The email of the hospital is:
[email protected]
ma youre right in a sense but still to hear a case like this this judge has not too many feelings or he doesnt believe in g-d and religion
The AY is doing something important here. With the spreading re-definition of death as cessation of brain activity, we will have more and more of these problems, and we do need advocacy to help us.
But, more importantly, we need to solve this and find a way to provide payment to cover the costs of complying with Halacha. We need a special “Halachic Insurance Supplement” that will cover a person until rabbonim have paskined he is deceased. Why? Because once the doctors have declared a person brain dead, the regular policies cease to cover the patients these days. The insurance companies say, “We do not insure dead people. Sorry.”
So, the hospital is looking at being stuck with an enormous unpaid bill, behoving them to fight to disconnect.
Consequently, the insurance companies benefit greatly by a doctor’s declaration of brain death, for it gets them off the hook much earlier, saving them many, many tens of thousands, or even as much as a million dollars. So, they pressure the hospital and doctors to declare the patient dead.
That is why I suggest we, maybe through the AY, or maybe through the OU, or some other frum organization, arrange with a reliable insurer a halachic policy or medical rider, or “excess policy” or whatever it is called, and all frum families should purchase it. This way we spread risk, and when one of us is faces with this kind of issue, we can quietly talk to the hospital administration, and explain that OUR COVERAGE WILL NOT CEASE, AND THEY WILL GET PAID. This will take the pressure off them to push to take the patient off life support.
The other suggestion is a fund that we all contribute to. But, the insurance policy can be something that is much more fair, and we can make it politically incorrect to not have one …..
Just a few thoughts. (yes, I know I have voiced this before, but it can’t hurt to bring it up again.)
In the meanwhile, let’s be supportive of the Brody family and of the AY who are helping out. Everone involved is going through so much.
Tehillim and Tefilla now … but let’s not forget action to help future cases.
#8 Why is this case in point? The hospital has poskim to rely on who hold brain death is death! I’m not saying the religious beliefs of the parents shouldn’t be followed, but stop cursing out the hospital because they don’t want to. Your opinion in halacha is not the only opinion.
To bacci, Getting a living will would not stop any legal action in this case. Living wills and DNRs are before they declare the pt. dead.
lesschumras, once the patient is already on the machines, you cannot take him off of them, if that will cause him to be unable to continue living (per Igros Moshe.)
To lesschumras,
Do Teshuva! You where just megaleh ponim b’torah shelo k’halacha. Even if you were joking,
it’s pretty bad. Open up a chumash and a shulchan aruch- speak to your local Rabbi and you’ll see how off you are.
Someone previously posted a letter to the hospital, mentioning a miraculous recovery by someone who was in a coma. Have there been reported instances of people recovering once their brain activity has ceased??
—————————–
In the history of mankind, there has never been a case where a person has woken up after being brain-stem dead. This assumes, of course, that the tests that determine brain activity have been administered properly.
This is a very sad story. However, the doctors are simply following protocol and the legal definition of what is considered death in all 50 states. The halachic definition of death, at least to some individuals, is the cessation of heartbeat–and this is where the conflict arises.
I asked a medical ethicist why this case has suddenly surfaced, when there certainly have been other cases where an Orthodox patient has been declared brain-stem-dead. He said that in the past, hospitals generally let the brain-stem-dead stay on a ventilator until his heart stopped beating (which usually occurs in a matter of a few days or at most a couple of weeks). He told me that for monetary reasons hospitals are now anxious to close the records of brain stem dead patients as soon as legally possible, and not allow a patient’s heart to stop beating.