A SERIOUSLY sick baby who was declared brain dead by medics started breathing on his own just days later.
The “horrible error” in judgement has prompted health chiefs to review the test used by NHS hospitals to determine whether or not patients are brain dead.
Brain death is when a person on life support machinery no longer has any brain functions.
They cannot breathe without a ventilator, for example.
A person is determined brain dead when there is clear evidence of serious incurable brain damage, the NHS says.
But there are also a series of small tests to check the brain's automatic functions, which are done twice to double-check.
The tests include shining a torch into both eyes to see if they react to the light; pushing a thin plastic tube down the windpipe to see if it provokes gagging or coughing, or temporarily removing life support to see if the person attempts to breathe on their own.
Read more on the NHS
NHS to open 50 surgical hubs capable of a MILLION extra ops per year by 2024
NHS blood test could stop one in 10 cancer deaths
However, the test is now being reviewed and rewritten by medics and ethicists at the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AMRC), Sky News reported.
New guidelines are expected in 2023.
It comes after a four-month old baby – who has not been named for legal reasons – was seen breathing on his own by a nurse, more than a week after doctors had carried out brain stem tests and concluded he had died.
At the time, the baby’s parents regarded what happened as a “miracle”.
However, tests reveal the baby remains brain-stem dead, which is when a person on an artificial life support machine no longer has any brain functions.
Most read in Health
Drink loved by almost everyone raises risk of throat cancer
Free high street heart checks for over-40s set to save nearly 4,500 lives
Warning to diabetics who take painkillers over new risk of deadly killer
I rushed to the loo 20 times a day due to illness that lingered for 2 years
The shocking story was revealed during a treatment dispute between doctors and the baby's family.
The doctor, who is involved in the boy’s care, told the High Court she had never seen such a situation before.
She also apologised to the boy’s parents and said a review into what happened was ongoing.
“I think it must be just beyond comprehension (for the parents),” she said.
“That doctors looking after their baby can have made what appears to be such a horrible error.”
Hospital bosses have asked Mr Justice Hayden to make decisions about the infant's future after a specialist told the judge nothing could be done to help the boy.
Barrister David Lawson, who is leading the hospital's legal team, yesterday told Mr Justice Hayden that the boy is dying and argued that ventilation should end.
What does brain dead mean?
Brain death is when no brain function exists, causing death.
Brain death results from "swelling in the brain where blood flow in the brain ceases and without blood to oxygenate the cells and the tissue dies" according to Life Source.
Once brain tissue dies, there is nothing that can be done to heal it.
When a person deteriorates to brain death, the body’s entire system stops.
The brain death victim cannot breathe, their heart cannot beat and their body cannot function once the brain dies.
Brain death is a rare event that occurs in one out of every 200 hospital deaths.
They say the judge should rule the boy, who has a serve brain injury and is on a ventilator, should be given only palliative care.
The boy's parents, want life support to continue.
The judge was told the baby had remained on a ventilator, even though tests had shown him to be brain-stem dead, because there was an ongoing court dispute.
“I don’t know in all honesty whether there are other cases like this,” the doctor told Mr Justice Hayden.
“We are currently reviewing it as professionals.”
The doctor, who at one stage wept while giving evidence, added: “I can only say I am terribly sorry for what has happened.
“It has only made a very difficult situation event more difficult.”
The doctor allegedly said the "wording" of the test could be changed to include a warning about the test's reliability.
This comes just weeks after the conclusion of another high profile case involving life support.
Read More on The Sun
I’m a size 22 – I did an H&M haul so you don’t have to
My neighbour parks TWELVE cars on our street – we’re struggling to find a space
Last month 12-year-old Archie Battersbee's life support was switched off despite his parents' heroic legal fight.
The youngster suffered brain damage in the "freak accident" and never woke up.
Source: Read Full Article
