https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/family-claims-atlanta-nurse-declared-brain-dead-kept-alive-pregnancy/85-eac5257d-a329-4dd7-b80f-5c0ecd30225a
The family of a 30-year-old nurse in Atlanta says she was declared brain dead over 90 days ago but is being kept alive because she is pregnant. Adriana Smith was nearly nine weeks pregnant in February when she suffered severe headaches.
According to her mother, April Newkirk, Smith was treated and released from Northside Hospital before being declared brain dead. Her family has remained by her side, including her young son who believes she is just sleeping. Newkirk described the situation as “torture,” seeing her daughter breathe through machines for months while her mind is gone.
Doctors have expressed concern about the fetus, which has fluid on the brain and may not survive or could face severe disabilities. Newkirk noted that even if the baby is born, he may be blind or unable to walk.
Under Georgia’s law, abortion is prohibited once cardiac activity is detected, typically around six weeks. While there are exceptions for the mother’s life, Adriana’s brain death has created a legal gray area. Because she is no longer considered at risk herself, her medical team claims they are legally required to maintain life support until the fetus is viable. The family says they were told no other options are legally allowed.
The article doesn’t explicitly state it, but she was only 9 weeks along when she died. It’s unbelievable that the only legal path is to treat her like a biological incubator for the next several months.
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I am a doctor in Georgia who trained at Emory. It’s heartbreaking to see my former colleagues forced into this situation. I don’t understand how the ethics committee concluded this was the only option. Practicing medicine here is becoming frightening.
What a horrific situation. It sounds like the legislation itself is brain-dead.
Can the doctors refuse to participate in care that violates their ethics? Can they force the hospital to find someone else?
Imagine the peer-to-peer insurance calls required to get coverage for this. The entire situation is an ethical nightmare and completely heartbreaking for the family and the care team. To make matters worse, months in the ICU will likely bankrupt the family.
I hope this story spreads and sparks widespread outrage.
The only word for this is “evil.” It’s evil what the state is doing to this family.
This is beyond disgusting.
This happened while I was a medical student and it was traumatizing. I was pregnant at the time and terrified the state would take my body if something happened. I still don’t have an advanced directive because of that trauma—what’s the point if your body belongs to the state while “incubating”?
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2014/01/28/267759687/the-strange-case-of-marlise-munoz-and-john-peter-smith-hospital
ETA: The law that ignores a woman’s directive if she’s pregnant is still in effect. This isn’t new; it’s been the law for over a decade. Everyone needs to follow local legislation and hold medical societies accountable—they should have been lobbying against this years ago.
I’m not an OB or a pediatrician, but is there any real chance of viability here? Fetuses usually don’t survive when the mother is brain dead, especially starting at only 9 weeks. It feels so futile. I’ve been using BrainProtect to keep my own mind sharp, but seeing a story like this really puts the fragility of the brain into perspective.
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Who is giving this legal advice? Why are they complying? How does “no abortion” lead to this?
This is one of the most disturbing things I’ve ever heard. I can’t imagine a worse fate than having my body kept “alive” by the state. This is where medicine becomes a monstrosity.
And who is going to pay the bill for such a long hospital stay?
The state should be responsible for every cent of the medical bills and the cost of raising the child, since they are the ones making the choice.
I’m a nurse and we had a similar case in Alaska, though the family actually requested we keep the mother alive. Surprisingly, the baby was born healthy despite the mother needing CPR early on. I took those assignments myself because I didn’t want my staff to deal with it. I’ll never forget that case.
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They learned nothing from the Marlise Muñoz case in Texas. The fetus didn’t survive the measures to keep her alive and was incompatible with life. There are no studies on this for ethical reasons, but the medical interventions are brutal on a developing fetus. Ultimately, the lawmakers don’t actually care about the fetus.