Life or death of hospitalized 20-year-old back in Reno court

(AP) — A Nevada hospital where a college student has been on life support since doctors declared her brain dead more than six months ago wants a judge to order new tests — over the objections of her father, who insists she's alive and doesn't want to pull the plug.

The case returns to Washoe County District Court on Wednesday after the Nevada Supreme Court overturned a ruling by a family court judge who decided in July that Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center in Reno could disconnect Aden Hailu from a ventilator and IV tube.

In unanimously granting Hailu's father's appeal, the high court on Nov. 16 directed Judge Frances Doherty to hold hearings on whether American Association of Neurology brain death guidelines cited by hospital doctors conform with Nevada's Determination of Death Act and effectively determine whether she is legally dead or alive.

O'Mara said in a Nov. 23 letter to the hospital that until Hailu is "given the opportunity to begin the healing process with a minimum of a tracheostomy, proper nutrition and thyroid medication, Saint Mary's does not have consent to perform any EEG or brain vascular flow studies."