There is a concrete connection between my son, Aidan, and the young girl nearly beaten to death, Haleigh Poutre.  Aidan was cared for in the same pediatric intensive care unit, by the very same doctors and nurses, as Haleigh.  I have the highest regard for those doctors and nurses, some of whom worked with Aidan and us throughout his entire fourteen years.  I am dismayed, therefore, by the suggestions made by the head of DSS, that these doctors somehow acted improperly in Haleigh’s case.

    Of course, all of these people are human and, as humans, are prone to error from time to time.  But in complex, intensive care cases, at the edge of life and death, we must be very careful about maligning the practice of physicians. These people are absolutely dedicated to saving children’s lives.  They do it every day.  They have no interest in "killing" any one.  When they are confronted with difficult questions about whether a child will survive a certain condition or what their quality of life will be, they make the best calls they can with the information available.  They certainly understand that each case is unique -both of the doctors cited in Haleigh’s case said so directly to me in Aidan’s last days – and that terms like "vegetative state" are crude descriptors of multifaceted diagnoses.

   Dr. Stephen Lieberman and Dr. Christine McKiernan both cared for Aidan.  We have known Lieberman since Aidan first went to the PICU at Bay State when he was ten days old.  Both of them listened to our concerns; both of them followed our lead in Aidan’s care.  They differed to some degree over specific treatment options but each provided us with as much information as possible to understand Aidan’s final condition.  They called in other specialists to talk with us.  At no point did they rush us or bring any question of cost into the conversation.  They were  compassionate and proficient.

     In Haleigh’s case, the DSS asked about her condition at a particular moment.  They answered that she was in a dire situation and should be taken off the respirator she was on.  Aidan was also on a respirator in his last days. I learned a thing or two about "vents," as they are called.  The respiratory therapist told me that they always try to wean patients off vents as soon as possible in order to stimulate independent breathing.  If you stay on a respirator too long, the possibility of permanent dependence on a respirator increases. 

    So, after a week on a respirator was it reasonable for the doctors to suggest that Haleigh be weaned from it?   Perhaps it was reasonable.

    I also learned that respirators are complex machines, with many levels of breathing support.  The plug is not simply "pulled."  There is a gradual process of changing the settings to slowly reduce the patient’s dependence on the machine.  At each step the process can be reevaluated.  I suspect that what the doctors were recommending was to begin the process of weaning her from the respirator.  They were not saying to abruptly turn off her air.

    It may be true that Haleigh healed in ways unexpected by the doctors.  But this remarkable turn of events should not be taken as an absolute sign that the physicians acted improperly when they made their initial diagnoses.  All diagnoses are probabilistic.  Haleigh beat the odds in a highly unusual way.  And that is great.  We should remember, however, that the doctors are on the line every day; they see hundreds and hundreds of cases.  They do not want to kill anyone.  They reported what they saw at the moment they were asked to evaluate her.

   At the end of the day, it comes down to trust.  I trust Lieberman and McKiernan, and that trust is based on a very intimate and emotional encounter.  We should not blame them for Haleigh’s condition.  Especially since none of us have seen the full medical records and since both doctors are bound by their commitment to confidentiality from discussing the case publicly.