A family lawyer says a 20-year-old woman at the center of an end-of-life court battle over her treatment has died at a Reno, Nevada, hospital while still on life support.
Attorney David O'Mara tells The Associated Press that Aden Hailu died Monday at Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center, where she never awoke from anesthesia after abdominal surgery April 1. O'Mara says the cause appears to have been respiratory failure.
A Nevada hospital official says federal patient privacy laws prevent administrators from commenting on the death of a 20-year-old woman at the center of an end-of-life court battle.
Saint Mary's Hospital and Medical Center spokeswoman Jamii Uboldi on Tuesday cited the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPPA.
She says administrators think they need the Hailu's father or a legal representative to OK talking about the case.
Hailu's father, Fanuel Gebreyes, lost a bid last week to delay brain wave tests that the hospital said would show Hailu was brain dead and wouldn't recover.
O'Mara said Gebreyes felt that that as long as there was a chance that Hailu was alive, the hospital should treat her or find a place that would.
Posted at 10:41 AM, Jan 05, 2016
and last updated 2016-01-05 13:57:19-05
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