(AP) - The Nevada Supreme Court says a Reno hospital must keep a college student on life-support pending a decision about the legality of a medical standard used to determine she was brain dead.
A unanimous ruling granting an appeal by the woman's father on Thursday means Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center has to continue to treat Aden Hailu.
She's been in a coma since suffering catastrophic lack of oxygen during exploratory surgery April 1.
The decision by Justice Kristina Pickering acknowledges "important implications" for the medical community, families and patients.
It orders a hearing to determine whether American Association of Neurology guidelines used by the hospital to declare the 20-year-old Hailu brain dead are acceptable under the Uniform Determination of Death Act.
The state adopted the standard in 1985.
