Opinion ID: 2576153
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Green's illness and death

Text: Meanwhile, Green remained at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital. When first admitted she was in a coma and unable to breathe, with a blood pressure reading as low as 33, indicating shock. This condition had to be reversed immediately to avoid death. An intratracheal tube was placed in her throat, and a machine helped her breathe for the first few days. When she regained the ability to breathe on her own, a tracheotomy was performed so that a tube could be placed directly in her trachea, bypassing her nose and throat. Without breathing assistance, she would have died. Toxicology screens performed on Green's blood and urine when she was admitted to the hospital revealed the presence of cyanide, as well as amphetamine and Valium. Green remained in a coma for approximately three months. She was fed and medicated through tubes connected to her nose and stomach. During that time, she developed pneumonia, a common complication for patients in her condition. When she awakened from the coma briefly, she showed signs of mental impairment. Dr. Henri Becker, a specialist in the critical care of patients whose lives are in danger due to heart attack or other trauma, participated in Green's care at Hollywood Presbyterian and reviewed her medical records. Dr. Becker explained that cyanide causes brain damage by binding with hemoglobin to prevent the transport of oxygen to the brain and other tissues. In Dr. Becker's opinion, Green's ingestion of cyanide caused her coma and the resulting complications. Green's daughter, Caron Green, had seen her mother regularly before the poisoning, when Green was in excellent health. Caron visited Green frequently while Green was at Hollywood Presbyterian. For about the first three months, Caron could not speak to Green because of the coma. When Green came out of the coma, she could not see and did not have control of her bodily functions. After several months, Green was transferred to Glendale Adventist Hospital. Caron continued to see her mother regularly. Green was unable to walk, see, converse, or feed herself. Later, she was moved to a hospital in Michigan, where her other daughters lived. Her condition steadily deteriorated, and she died on July 26, 1986. Dr. Jerry Gray, a pathologist, performed an autopsy on Green. Green died from another bout of pneumonia attributed to toxic brain damage caused by the cyanide poisoning. The cyanide prevented oxygen from reaching Green's brain, thus killing her brain cells. Dr. Gray testified that pneumonia is common after this type of brain injury because the patient cannot breathe and cough normally and therefore cannot tolerate secretions in the lungs.