A Bronx hospital has been ordered not to remove a brain-dead boy's respirator following an emergency 10:30 p.m. hearing where the 13-year-old's family alleged hospital personnel had threatened to disconnect him from life support against their wishes.
Teron Francis was taken to Bronx-Lebanon Hospital on Monday, following complaints of a severe headache and toothache. A CAT-scan revealed a dental infection that had spread to the boy's brain, causing it to swell, the family says. When the young Francis went into convulsions and became unconscious, doctors transferred him to Montefiore Hospital for surgery on Tuesday.
The following day, according to the boy's mother, Marcerlyn Francis, Montefiore's doctors told her the teen's lungs had to be stopped from functioning in order to complete an operative procedure. Within hours they were back, informing her that her son was brain dead.
"Something went terribly wrong because my brother was always conscious in the hospital," Teron's brother, Erron Francis, 24, told Newsday. "On Wednesday, they were calling us asking us about donating organs."
Teron's fate went from medical crisis to legal crisis on Thursday, although neither the family nor the hospital agree on the facts.
According to Annmarie Douglas, Teron's aunt, a Montefiore physician informed the family that New York State law empowers doctors to remove respirators from patients who have been brain dead more than 24 hours. At that point, Teron's mother contacted Robert Genis, an attorney, who obtained an order from the New York Supreme Court requiring the hospital to show cause for removing the breathing device.
Genis told reporters prior to Friday's late night emergency hearing, "The hospital wants to cut him off now, even though we got a show-cause order to continue his life support."
Montefiore spokesman Steve Osborne disputes Genis, accusing him of "doing a disservice to the family."
"I'm saying, unequivocally, we never ever intended to take Teron Francis off the ventilator," says Osborne. "That is not our policy. We just don't do that."
Osborne noted, however, that if Terone is to be removed from the machine keeping him alive, "it's better to do it sooner than later because of the boy's condition. When you're brain dead, your organs just fade away slowly."
The judge's order requires the hospital to do all it can to keep Teron's heart going and to not remove him from the respirator. An investigation into the circumstances surrounding the boy's falling into a coma is to be conducted.
Douglas, Teron's aunt told WABC News: "I love [the judge], I love that man – he's wonderful. And I do appreciate him coming here."
Family members say hospital personnel have told them Teron has anywhere from one hour to two weeks to live.
"To let him die on his own," Douglas says of the family's wishes. "I don't want to be part of killing my nephew.