Annelise Camp is a 2 ½-year-old girl who, while visiting relatives on Memorial Day, drowned in a hotel pool.
Annelise's father, Johnston Camp, said it took nearly an hour to get his daughter's heartbeat to return.
Camp also said that the family became concerned after a physician gave a recommendation that Annelise be declared brain dead two days after being taken into the hospital's care.
Now, the family is taking Texas Children's Hospital to court, to try and keep that declaration from happening.
Dr. Heidi Klessig, author of the book titled "The Brain Death Fallacy," said on American Family Radio Monday that if the hospital can declare Annalise dead, they would be able to pull care from her without the family's permission.
“What Texas Children is looking to do … if they do a series of tests and declare Annalise to be brain dead, then they have no more duty to continue her care and can withdraw her support unilaterally over her parents' objection,” Klessig told show host Jenna Ellis.
However, it seems the medical industry cannot agree on a universal definition of a "brain death."
The Uniform Determination of Death Act states that there must be "irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem." The American Academy of Neurology definition allows for people with ongoing brain activity to still be declared brain dead.
Dr. Klessig cited a paper written by Dr. Alan Shuman at the UCLA Medical School that gave hope that even if Annalise is determined to be brain dead, she may still recover.
“He found and published a paper in 1998, 175 cases of people who had been declared brain dead who continued to live, one, ultimately for more than 20 years,” Klessig said.
In May, Texas Children's Hospital reached a landmark settlement with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and the U.S. Department of Justice.
The agreement resolves allegations that the hospital violated state bans on gender-affirming care for minors and engaged in Medicaid fraud by using false diagnosis codes.
The hospital agreed to permanently stop providing puberty blockers, hormone therapies, and surgeries for gender transition to minors.
As part of the deal, the hospital must fire and revoke the privileges of five physicians who performed these procedures
