Jahi McMath has died, family says

The family and attorney of Jahi McMath, the stricken teenager from Oakland, Calif., who became the center of a national controversy over brain death, say the girl died last week after complications from surgery. Jahi was 13 when she went into cardiac arrest as the result of nose and throat surgery in 2013, and the state of California issued her a death certificate after doctors declared her brain dead. But her family disputed the diagnosis, saying the girl could wiggle her fingers and toes on command. The family ultimately moved her to New Jersey, where the law allows families to reject a brain death diagnosis for religious reasons, and Jahi grew taller and underwent puberty with the help of feeding and breathing machines. The family took her off the machines June 22 after she developed internal bleeding and kidney problems following recent intestinal surgery. New Jersey issued a new death certificate, listing bleeding as the cause of death. Jahi’s case did not sway the medical establishment’s view of brain death as irreversible. But the girl’s mother, Nailah Winkfield, told the Bay Area News Group, “My wish is for her to get some laws changed around brain death. I hope she’s taught people—stopped pulling the plug on your people. Give them a chance.”