Brain Death

555 Words2 Pages

There are many legal aspects that go into declaring what is and what is not brain death. In today’s society, many people, including medical professionals, judges and attorneys struggle to identify what exactly constitutes as brain death. According to, Smith“ the concept of brain death came about during the 1950’s when, as a consequence of developments in critical care, clinicians were faced for the first time with the prospect of an apparently ‘alive’ patient sustained by mechanical ventilation long after brain function had ceased”(Smith, 2011).
The confusion as what exactly constitutes as brain death arises because brain death can be defined in more than one way. For instance, brain death can be classified as either the brain as a whole or the brain-stem. However, the Uniform Determination of Death Act states that, “an individual that has sustained irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain-stem, is dead” (Manara, Murphy & O’Callaghan, 2011). The brain-stem is the part of the brain between the spinal chord and diencephalon and consists of thr...

Show More
Related

  • The Strange Case of Marlise Munoz and John Peter Smith Hospital

    1005 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Web. 08 Feb. 2014. “Experts weigh in on law keeping brain-dead pregnant woman alive.” CBS News. The Associated Press.

    Read More

  • Ethical Issue in Comfort Care

    659 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to Gamliel (2012), euthanasia refers to actions or omissions that result in the death of a person who is already gravely ill. Techniques of active euthanasia range fro...

    Read More

  • The Role Quality of Life Issues Displays in Medical Decisions

    965 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jahi McMath is a 13-year-old girl living in Oakland, CA who was declared brain dead by multiple neurologists more than three months ago. Jahi was declared brain-dead December 12th after barriers during surgery a few days earlier to remove her tonsils, adenoids, and uvula at Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland. At least three neurologists confirmed that Jahi was unable to breathe on her own, had no blood flow to her brain, and had no sign of electrical activity in her brain. Moreover, a court order kept Jahi's body on a ventilator while independent experts could be brought in to confirm the results (Wells, 2014). Even so, the McMath family was able to secure the release of Jahi's body through the county coroner, who issued a death certificate, and have been keeping her on a ventilator at an undisclosed facility ever since. This all occurred after Children’s Hospital released Jahi due to her severe brain damage along with the probability of the hospital receiving profit from discharging Jahi before her or her family were ready for her to be released (Johnson and Rhodes, 2010, p. 61).

    Read More

  • Bullet in the Brain

    1969 Words  | 4 Pages

    Anders couldn’t get to the bank until just before it closed, so of course the line was endless and he got stuck behind two women whose loud, stupid conversation put him in a murderous temper. He was never in the best of tempers anyway, Anders – a book critic known for the weary, elegant savagery with which he dispatched almost everything he reviewed.

    Read More

  • Mental Capacity Act 2005 Essay

    758 Words  | 2 Pages

    However, the framework in practice is very complex, and has various inconsistencies, such as the legality of refusing treatment, the sovereignty of a living will and the issue of prosecuting those who assist someone to end their lives. There is evidence that shows doctors using palliative sedation as a means to facilitate death in patients that are in extreme pain and the use of limiting or even stopping treatment at the patient’s request is not uncommon. The difficulties of putting the law into practice make it extremely difficult for courts, legislators and doctors to reach clear decisions on individual cases. Therefore, the inconsistencies in the legal framework need to be addressed, as with these present the argument against legalising the right to die is weakened. Legalising assisted dying would simplify the framework and ensure that set barriers and safeguards could be created in order to protect the patient and his/her

    Read More

  • Patient Assisted Suicide

    1881 Words  | 4 Pages

    The practice of using continuous sedation (CS) to reduce or take away the consciousness of a patient until their death follows is a similar grey area in healthcare. This was addressed in Washington v. Glucksberg when Justice O’Connor’s statements proclaimed that CS was legal and ethically acceptable. The case also suggested the availability of CS renders the legalization of PAS as unnecessary (Raus, Sterckx & Mortier, 2011). This argument leaves a great deal of life ending treatments up to individual interpretation. PAS is illegal in some states in the United States but passive euthanasia or the right to refuse medical treatment, including life-sustaining medical treatment, is well-established in the US by common law and landmark court decisions.

    Read More

  • Death and Dying: Should Life Support Be Used for a Long Time?

    1118 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are two ways in which a person dies: cardiopulmonary death or brain death. Both are formal and legal definitions of death. Cardiopulmonary death is the irreversible loss of function in the heart and lungs. People who have suffered irreparable brain damage (such as head trauma or stroke) are diagnosed with brain death, which is “the irreversible cessation of all brain functions," according to Health System University of Miami.

    Read More

  • Free Euthanasia and Doctor-Assisted Suicide Essay - Assisted Suicide

    994 Words  | 2 Pages

    The definition of euthanasia is simple: "Easy, painless death." But the concept of euthanasia proposed by adherents of the euthanasia movement is complex and has profound consequences for all. Because the subject involves the discipline of medicine (diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, medical ethics and so on) as well as the discipline of law, the general public will have difficulty understanding it without some knowledge of these matters.

    Read More

  • What is Considered Life Support?

    938 Words  | 2 Pages

    Those susceptible to being put on life support include “brain dead” and “vegetative” persons. The term “brain dead” is used for individuals who lack activity within the brain, thus why some functions (i.e. swallowing and breathing) are incapable of being performed. However those in a “vegetative” state may be able to perform these tasks, despite being severely, mentally crippled (Doyle 1).

    Read More

  • Keeping a Brain Dead Patient on Life Support

    1305 Words  | 3 Pages

    The criteria or definition of brain death was re-examined in 1968 by a committee at Harvard Medical School and is part of the criteria used today. They defined it as when a patient; is unresponsive to stimulus; cannot move or breathe without the aid of a ventilator and has no brain stem reflexes. Several tests are done in order to determine if a patient meets these criteria and this can be done by physicians and neurologists. A brain dead patient is legally dead and a death cer...

    Read More

  • Ventalation Case Summary

    2502 Words  | 6 Pages

    This case is considering whether or not it is ethical to take a brain dead woman that is pregnant off of ventalation. This specific case involves a resident of Texas named Amanda. Amanda was thirty years old. Amanda was married, was mother of an 18-month old child, and worked in the healthcare industry. One day, Amanda collapsed and the doctors then later determined she had a massive pulmonary embolism. She was then declared brain dead after being taken to the hospital. Brain death is the irreversible cessation of all the functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem (Baumrucker 672).

    Read More

  • Brain Dead patients on Life Support

    1236 Words  | 3 Pages

    Once a person is brain dead they are said to be legally dead and the time and date of death is reflected on their death certificate. In South Africa it is not stated that doctors can withdraw life support once a patient is declared brain dead due to ethical debates (Fleischer, 2003). There have been some cases where people have been declared brain dead but then regain some brain activity (Greenberg, 2014). This h...

    Read More

  • Death And Death: The Definition Of Brain Death

    792 Words  | 2 Pages

    The concept of brain death is not something that can be easily determined at just a glance. It is an intricate course of tests and time to determine if the process of brain function is evident. An important series of questions to ask yourself is, “what constitutes brain death,” “how is it defined, “and “what happens afterwards?” Brain death is not to be confused with a coma because they are entirely different. Organ donation is the most common outcome of someone who is diagnosed brain dead. If this occurs first hand to you or your family member, would you go out of your way to determine if the doctors were correct? This essay will explain the tests that are performed on the body that is thought to be brain dead, the difference between brain death and a coma, and how families could possibly handle the results of a person being determined brain dead.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Life Support

    755 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is clear that in order for survival potential, the body must have the capacity to heal. I believe that such technology interfere with nature and immoral. Brain dead patients on life support only prolong the dying process. This possibly prolongs their suffrage too. Most family members rather have a pleasant memory during the process of death. Its involve numerous emotions, but I prefer a peaceful death. Most of us believe that all effort should be made to preserve life, but unfortunately not in the case of brain death. As humans being, the right to live is part of the basic needs, but we want to live healthy or at least be aware of our surroundings. Every humans being deserve all the best quality in life. No one wants to see their love ones through the process of dying, that’s one of the reasons we should stay strong and make it easier not only for them but for us

    Read More

  • Moral and Ethical Issues of Euthanasia

    1525 Words  | 4 Pages

    President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research. Defining Death: A Report on the Medical, Legal and Ethical Issues in the Determination of Death. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1981.

    Read More

More about Brain Death

Open Document