WASHINGTON, DC — Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. took the family of a 12-year-old Orthodox Jewish boy on life support to court yesterday.
Motl Brody's family wants to keep their brain-dead son on mechanical assistance for religious reasons, but the hospital said its resources are being used to preserve a deceased body. The case is currently disputed in the D.C. Superior Court.
Hospital Sues Orthodox Jews To Halt Life Support For Brain-Dead Son
WASHINGTON, DC — Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. took the family of a 12-year-old Orthodox Jewish boy on life support to court yesterday.
Motl Brody’s family wants to keep their brain-dead son on mechanical assistance for religious reasons, but the hospital said its resources are being used to preserve a deceased body. The case is currently disputed in the D.C. Superior Court.
Mr. Brody, under care for brain cancer, was pronounced dead Tuesday night after tests showed no signs of brain activity. His family said their Orthodox Jewish faith does not define death as cessation of brain function alone. The hospital argued that Mr. Brody is dead, and no religious principle can deny that.
“This child has ceased to exist by every medical definition,” Sophia Smith, one of Mr. Brody’s physicians, wrote in court papers. “There is no activity in any portion of his brain, including the brain stem.”
Kenneth H. Rosenau, an attorney for the hospital, told the Washington Post, “There is no religious principle at issue in this case, but a clash of life and death.”
The hospital’s lawyers noted that alternative care facilities had denied acceptance of the boy because he is brain-dead.
Jeffery Zuckerman, the Brody family’s lawyer, is challenging the hospital’s plans to take Mr. Brody off life support on the grounds that religious beliefs must be respected under federal law.
“Under Jewish law and their faith, there is no such thing as brain death,” he told to the Washington Post. “Their religious beliefs are entitled to respect.”
Some states like New York and New Jersey have provisions in their laws and regulations that make exceptions for Orthodox Jews in similar instances. Washington, D.C. does not.
Rabbi Moshe Bogomilsky of Congregation Yeshiva of in Crown Heights, New York agreed with the Brody family’s wishes.
“There are some that feel brain-dead is sufficient [to declare a person’s death],” said. “But the authoritative [Orthodox Jewish] opinion is we follow the heartbeat to declare the difference between life and death.”
“As long as the heart is beating, he’s alive,” he added. “It may not be the best situation, but if a person’s alive, we can’t do anything that would shorten a life for a person.”
In situations where congregants have a choice of whether or not their loved one should go on life support, Rabbi Bogomilsky said he would “encourage them to go on life support.”
While Orthodox Jews do not believe in brain death, other religions, like Catholicism, do.
“We do accept the total brain-dead criteria,” Rev. Alfred Cioffi, S.T.D., Ph.D., of the National Catholic Bioethics Center, said. He noted that there are two definitions of death.
“The classical definition is the cessation of heartbeat and respiration. It typically doesn’t require much equipment to detect that,” he said. “The neurological definition requires an Electroencephalogram (EEG). If it’s a flat line, there are no brain waves.”
In cases of a coma or trauma to the head, it is possible to have partial brain death in the cerebral cortex. Catholics believe a person must have total brain death, however, to discontinue life support. In total brain death, even the brain stem, which controls involuntary activities like heartbeat, breathing and digestion, among others, ceases to function.
“As long as person has total brain death, we accept that person has died,” Rev. Cioffi said. He noted, “Even a corpse requires dignity and proper handling but may be disconnected from vital support. A corpse may be sustained on vital support systems for organ donation because once there is death, there is disintegration.”
chayya
I wish them all the luck thye need, and i have no doubt they will win the courtcase because after all God rules the world and He would never allow these non jews to stop the heart beat of a yid. life is only in the hands of God its not in our hands to decide.
Lightning
I am a father of one teen son & would hate to be in their position! I would think it would be more prudent to get a specialist of that type of condition to see if special drugs or other ways might reverse the situation. I’m not sure what I would do! Terminating decisions might split the husband & wife! Possibly cause sever strain on all of the family!
Now on the dark side! Does this mean in NY state there are 100s of religious people with similar death beliefs( young & old) in dead zones of hospitals? Are the families considering them as cash cows to keep funds for social security, retirement funds, etc flowing? Are they still on voting lists, drivers licensed, a thriving community of the dead. There are likely other religions that have the same ideas!
Why not move the boy to NY & solve the problem?
Lightning
daven for the best
There was a child who was brain dead in Florida from a drowning and the parents took her home on life support. If the Brody family can arrange that, there would be no issue of continuing his life.
Jaffa
Lightning, that is a very good idea indeed! Thought, I would imagine the hospital wouldn’t even help transport it. They should be ashamed.
To Lighting
You sound like you have been struck by lightening. What are you talking about?!
we need a law
The hospital and laws of this country should respect the religious wishes of patients and their families. Jewish groups need to press the laws of this country to include this-there have been too many cases like this.
May Motti Brody have a refuah shlaima.
DONT BE PRESTAMISTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MOSHIACH WILL COME SOON AND HE WILL MAKE A FULL RECOVERY
Dee
Lightning – Moving any person in such a condition is almost impossible, especially if the hospital will not provide any assistance. It would take a miracle. The body and it’s functions are so delicate and the state in which the person is is very precarious. Just daven. That’s all we can do.
-Dee
curios wrote
who decided that life is defined by the function of the brain?
vegasyid
Don’t give me this brain dead BS. My cousin had half his brain removed and is successful shliach today. He’s smarter than half the doctors out there too. doctors call him a miracle. Yes thats right. The hospitals who dealt with him are shining proud. I guess when it suits them they call it a miracle. but when it doesn’t….Oh Boy!?!? then watch out cause they will pull the plug faster than the blink of the eye.
Either way if torah says that it’s the Heart that we go by well then it’s the heart that we go by. period!! I always thought it was the breath that we go by though…?!?! anyways…. maybe i was wrong..
oh and “lightning” comment.. what they heck are you talking about “cash cows” sorry i have no idea what you mean. it sounds like you were trying to insinuate a conspiracy or something like that. stop while your ahead and just be happy that no one understood you cause you might have sounded really really stupid.
BTW there are halachos against moving a deathly sick person even to adjust their pillow. look it up in the shulchan aruch.
Just doven for him. whats the kids hebrew name? please post it someone.
Hey if you want to see a real video of how Hashem works then go here:
http://www.youtube.com/watc…
Farrooked
On a lighter note, life is NOT defined by the function of the brain. We see all these braindead people have voted for Obama for president, and yet their vote counted, hence even the U.S. government agrees death is NOT connected to the brain!!! Just trying to pass a smile during such hard times.
May the boy have full recovery a refuah shleima now!!! Moshaich now!
Medical Ethics
I think the Torah definition of life is as long as both breathing and heartbeat are still active.
reader
The boy’s name is מרדכי דוב בן מרים שיינדל.
“who decided that life is defined by the function of the brain?” States started changing their laws because of organ donation-they can take it from people declared brain dead because their organs are still functioning.
we need moshiach now!!!
deos anyone know his hebrow name???
reader
Sorry, I pasted something in Hebrew and it didn’t show up. The boy’s name is Mordechai Dov Ben Miriam Sheindel.
rifhah
None of us should know of such a situation, may all our children grow up healthy to adulthood, and give us Nachas.
With regard to the child’s condition, soon after the 1968 Harvard criteria for brain death became standard medical practice, which determines “brainstem death” as the definitive moment of death, it is now legally, medically, and halachicly accepted by most Rabbonim that “brainstem death” is an irreversible condition, where no brain activity exists to connect the brain to the body and is the same as physiological decapitation. Through medical advancements it has been made possible to oxygenate a “brainstem” dead person’s body and vital organs, where the heart continues to beat only as result of an artificial heart, cardiopulmonary bypass or a respirator (Rosner). However, there are still heated debates by several noted halachic authorities including Rabbi Moshe Feinstein and Rabbi Bleich, who hold fast to the notion that a beating heart renders a person living.Their claim is that the Jewish law only recognizes death as the cessation of all bodily functions. So long as the heart is still beating, still regulating body temperature and metabolic activity is still going on, the person is alive and turning off life support is akin to murder.
It is hard enough to have to deal with the devastating situation, without having to battle heartless hospital personnel looking to cut expenses. May you be victorious in your conflict.
Robby Berman
Why does the title of the article use the term ‘life support’?
Many rabbanim consider a brain-stem dead person to be dead and did not view a beating heart as a sign of life. Rav Moshe Feinstein, Rav Yosef Soloveitchick, Rav Mordecahi Eliyahu, Rav Ovadiah Yosef, Rav Avraham Shapiro, Rav Zalman Nechemia Goldbderg, Rav Dovid Shlush, Rav Shaul Yisraeli, etc. A heart is an automatic pump that can continue to beat outside the body. Go to google video and type in “Beating heart dead frog>” Yet, there are many that disagree as well. The moment of death is a matter of halachic debate.
Since the title of your article uses the word “life support” it implies the boy is alive taking a position on the debate. It is best to be as descriptive as possible and say the body of a brain-stem dead boy is on a ventillator.
Medical Ethics IN halacha
Medically, no one has EVER recovered from complete brain damage. This is not a coma, but complete brain stem damage. There are rabbonim that deal specifically in the delicate issues of medical ethics and halacha, and “Torah’s definition” of death isn’t one-dimentional either.
The community’s support is heartwarming, but we can’t play victim because of our religious blinders.
Many rabbonim hold that this would be considered “end of life” and maybe a little more research and open-mindedness would do away with needless litigation and potential Chilul Hashem.
That being said, my heart goes out to this family in such a painful and scary position and Hashem should bless you with clarity, emunah and refua of all kinds.