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CNN Live Saturday
Doctors Pronounce Santillan Dead
Aired February 22, 2003 - 16:10 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: We've had a very tragic turn in the case of Jesica Santillan. Less than an hour ago, doctors declared her brain dead, just two days after she got a second heart-lung transplant. CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us live from Duke University Hospital in North Carolina. Elizabeth, does this mean that the parents are going to be disconnected little Jesica from life support?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, actually, it's not the parents' decision to make, Carol. Let me explain how it works. The family says that Duke University officials have declared her not brain dead, they've declared her dead, that she is actually dead. They say that many tests have shown that she has no brain activity. There's no blood flow to her brain. Legally and medically speaking, that means that she's dead.
Now, she's still on a machine that is breathing for her. But the way that the law works, according to several experts who have explained this to me, that the way that this works, is that the physicians would then turn off the respirator. It's not a choice for the parents to make, because legally speaking, this young woman is now dead.
However, the family says that they want a second opinion. They want to bring in someone from outside Duke to corroborate what they're saying. And they said that Duke at first said that that was OK, and then they changed their mind and said no, that that's not OK, and the family has expressed many times that they do not want her taken off of that breathing machine.
However, the law says that that is not the parents' decision to make. When you have no brain activity, you are legally dead -- Carol.
LIN: All right, thank you very much, Elizabeth. Do you know how long it's going to take to get the results of the second test, then?
COHEN: Well, the results of all those tests have been done. It's not clear that Duke is going to allow a second opinion, a second doctor to come in there. They don't have to do that. The family is right now trying to get Duke to allow them to bring in an outside doctor.
LIN: All right, thank you very much, Elizabeth Cohen, reporting from Raleigh Durham.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 22, 2003 - 16:10 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: We've had a very tragic turn in the case of Jesica Santillan. Less than an hour ago, doctors declared her brain dead, just two days after she got a second heart-lung transplant. CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us live from Duke University Hospital in North Carolina. Elizabeth, does this mean that the parents are going to be disconnected little Jesica from life support?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, actually, it's not the parents' decision to make, Carol. Let me explain how it works. The family says that Duke University officials have declared her not brain dead, they've declared her dead, that she is actually dead. They say that many tests have shown that she has no brain activity. There's no blood flow to her brain. Legally and medically speaking, that means that she's dead.
Now, she's still on a machine that is breathing for her. But the way that the law works, according to several experts who have explained this to me, that the way that this works, is that the physicians would then turn off the respirator. It's not a choice for the parents to make, because legally speaking, this young woman is now dead.
However, the family says that they want a second opinion. They want to bring in someone from outside Duke to corroborate what they're saying. And they said that Duke at first said that that was OK, and then they changed their mind and said no, that that's not OK, and the family has expressed many times that they do not want her taken off of that breathing machine.
However, the law says that that is not the parents' decision to make. When you have no brain activity, you are legally dead -- Carol.
LIN: All right, thank you very much, Elizabeth. Do you know how long it's going to take to get the results of the second test, then?
COHEN: Well, the results of all those tests have been done. It's not clear that Duke is going to allow a second opinion, a second doctor to come in there. They don't have to do that. The family is right now trying to get Duke to allow them to bring in an outside doctor.
LIN: All right, thank you very much, Elizabeth Cohen, reporting from Raleigh Durham.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
