Teen pronounced dead after fight to keep him on life support at UM hospital ends – MLive.com

ANN ARBOR, MI - A Michigan teen has died hours after a court decision ended his familys attempt to keep him on life support while they searched for alternative treatment.

Michigan Medicine spokesperson Mary Masson said 14-year-old Bobby Reyes was pronounced dead after a second brain death examination was conducted late Tuesday morning, Oct. 15. Mechanical ventilation was discontinued after the family gathered in the patients room.

Masson said the brain death examination showed Reyes had no detectable brain or brain stem function. Further testing - including an electrical encephalogram (EEG) and a cerebral blood flow study - detected no electrical activity and no blood flow to Bobbys brain.

Under Michigan law, an individual is dead when there is irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions or irreversible cessation of all function of the entire brain, including the brain stem.

Our health care team at Michigan Medicine extends our deepest condolences to the family of Bobby Reyes in this heartbreaking situation, Masson said in a statement.

Reyes had an asthma attack while riding in a car with his mother in Monroe Countys Ash Township on Saturday, Sept. 21, his mother Sarah Jones previously said.

He went into cardiac arrest before emergency crews arrived and he was flown to C.S. Mott Childrens Hospital in Ann Arbor.

An initial brain death examination performed Sept. 24 showed Reyes had no detectable brain or brain stem function, the hospital said.

A judge issued an order Sept. 30 stopping Michigan Medicine from taking Reyes off life support while his family worked to find a facility to care for him.

But after that order expired with the family unable to find alternative care for Bobby, Washtenaw County Circuit Judge David Swartz ruled Tuesday that the court lacked jurisdiction to do anything further, other than dismiss the case filed by the boys family.

Because the initial petition was filed in the wrong court, the familys attorney William Amadeo said he was left with few options to keep Reyes on life support. Amadeo said he planned to file an immediate request for a 48-hour stay so he can file a petition with the Michigan Court of Claims.

Masson said caregivers at C.S. Mott worked diligently with Reyes family to arrange a transfer of his care, contacting more than 20 different facilities, but every facility declined.

Continuing medical interventions was inappropriate after Bobby had suffered brain death and violates the professional integrity of Michigan Medicines clinicians, Masson said.

Amadeo could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Go here to read the rest:

Teen pronounced dead after fight to keep him on life support at UM hospital ends - MLive.com