Death occurs when an individual has sustained irreversible sessation of all functions of the entire brain. A number of definitions of this term have been proposed, but a simple and accurate is “that disease, injury or event, but for which death would not have occurred at the time it did.” In death certification, it is of primary reason to find out the first insult that started a cascading series of events leading to death. This isreferred to as the cause of death. The physiologic derangements caused by the cause of death are reffered as mechanism of death. For instance, suppose an individual receives a gunshot wound that injures the spinal cord and renders the victim quadriplegic. If, years later, he or she succumbs to a urinary tract infection …show more content…
related to the paralytic bladder caused by the spinal cord injury, the cause of death should be appropriatelycertified as a “gunshot wound of the back,” or “urosepsis” complicating quadriplegiadue to gunshot wound of back”. Many physicians, however, would inappropriatelylist the cause of death as “urinary tract infection”(a mechanism of death) without referencing the true cause of the condition, the gunshot wound (BECKER 1975; BERNET, CULVE & GERT, 1981). Often the cause of death cannot be arrived at by examination of the remains of the decedent. Just as a clinical physician must take a medical history prior to performing a physical examination, the medical examiner must have investigative information regarding the circumstances of death prior to reaching a conclusion. Review of past medical history, consideration of the presentation of the decedent at the time of death (sudden collapse, complaintsof symptoms), and other factors are of equal importance to the autopsy andother examination techniques. It is for this reason that an adequate investigativeteam is required to assist the medical examiner in gathering initial andfollow-up information. It is important to realize that cause of death statements by a medical examiner are opinions, resulting from consideration of myriad different factors and observations, generation of a differential list of potentially fatal conditions or injuries, and selection of the most likely candidate(s) for cause of death from that list. When explaining this opinion to attorneys, families, juries, or any other group, the forensic pathologist must make every effort to convey any degree of uncertainty, toacknowledge other possible opinions, and to explain his or her rationale forselecting one over another. To simply state an opinion dogmatically, leavingno room for competing theories or argument, is incompatible with honestforensic medical practice (SENN & STIMSON, 2010). Sometimes a cause of death cannot be determined to a reasonable degree of probability.
This may reflect the fact that multiple possible causes of death are present, and one cannot readily be chosen over another. It may also reflectthe fact that not every fatal condition has accompanying anatomic changesthat can be discovered on autopsy examination. The human body is in fact anelectrochemical mechanism, and many fatal physiological processes are notassociated with demonstrable anatomic alterations. When these processescannot be inferred from historical or investigative information, the cause ofdeath may remain undetermined. It is characteristic of a good forensic pathologistthat this conclusion is invoked whenever appropriate, without attempting toform an unsupportable cause of death conclusion(SENN & STIMSON, 2010). Manner of death is the fashion or circumstances that lead to death. The doctor is mainly expected to express what the manner of death was. Medico-legal classification differs two types of death manner: natural death and violent death. 1. Natural (non-violent) death is such death manner, where the cause of death is known as definite disease or unknown yet, but violent factors are excluded. These are three subtypes of the natural
death: 1.1. Expected death caused by clinically estimated and properly treated severe disease or its complications. 1.2. Sudden death is a rapid natural death, in which the cause of death is unknown (cannot be discovered without autopsy). Sudden death can be: • instantaneous (a cardiovascular death due to ventricular arrhythmia and cardiac arrest). • not instantaneous (with peculiar premortal signs which are: chest pain, difficulty of breathing, weakness etc.)
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...
2. Kirsch, Laura. “Diagnosis: DEATH.” Forensic Examiner 15.2 (2006): 52-54. Criminal Justice Periodicals. ProQuest. USF Mears Library, Sioux Falls, SD. 24 Apr. 2008 http://www.proquest.com/
In the United States and worldwide people have different culture, beliefs and attitude about death. Over the past years, death is an emotional and controversy topic that is not easy to talk about. Everyone have a different definition of what is death and when do you know that a person is really dead. In the book Death, Society, and Human Experiences by Robert J. Kastenbaum demonstrates that you are alive, even when doctors pronounce you dead.
There are two types of euthanasia: passive and active. Passive or voluntary euthanasia refers to withholding life saving treatments or medical technology to prolong life. For example, a patient has the right to refuse medical treatment. They also have the right to refuse resuscitation if they are in need to be placed on life support. Active or involuntary euthanasia refers to providing the means for someone to take their life or assisting with taking their life (“Euthanasia” Discovering).
Paulson, George. "Death of a President and his Assassin—Errors in their Diagnosis and Autopsies." Journal of the History of the Neurosciences 15.2 (2006): 77-91. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 28 Apr. 2011.
medical advances back by years and reduces today's Medical Doctors to. administrators of the death of the heirs & nbsp; Euthanasia defined & nbsp; The term Euthanasia is generally used to refer to an easy or painless death. Voluntary euthanasia involves a request by the dying patient or that person's legal representative. Passive or negative euthanasia involves not. doing something to prevent death-that is, allowing someone to die; active or dead. positive euthanasia involves taking deliberate action to cause death. & nbsp; Euthanasia is often mistaken or associated with assisted suicide.
The argument for the distinction is based on the cause of death. In the classic example of a doctor unplugging life-sustaining equipment, the cited cause of death is disease or...
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.
In the case of Mr. B’s, an investigation into the events surrounding to and leading up to his untimely death would be required. Once the problem has been identified and described, data of events are collected and formatted into a timeline. From the events, any problems in the care of the patient which may have contributed to the end result are identified and determined whether they are causative. In appendix A, the timeline of the event is outlined.
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...
There are two main classifications of euthanasia: voluntary and involuntary. Voluntary euthanasia is conducted with the consent of the patient while involuntary euthanasia is conducted without consent from the patient themselves, but with the consent from another person. With this, there are two procedural classifications of euthanasia which include passive and active euthanasia. Passive euthanasia happens when life-sustaining treatments are withheld – the doctor doesn’t “know” that the patient
...4). Unconsciousness is usually irreversible and is followed by death. Another option is terminating life sustaining treatments such as antibiotics, ventilators, cardio pulmonary resuscitation, and etcetera. The individual can also choose to be removed from all nutrition and hydration sources and allowed to die of dehydration or starvation, which occurs in about 1-3 weeks (Harris, 2014; Lachman, 2010). These options of allowing natural death in themselves seem similar to physician-assisted suicide. McManaman (2012) refers to them as “passive euthanasia” and states that, “Death is a side effect of removing such treatment, and death is accepted, not intended” (¶ 15). Currently, most individuals only have the option to end life-sustaining measures and be provided comfort care, which can hasten or cause death do not appear different than choosing assisted-suicide.
“Euthanasia is defined as a deliberate act undertaken by one person with the intention of ending life of another person to relieve that person's suffering and where the act is the cause of death.”(Gupta, Bhatnagar and Mishra) Some define it as mercy killing. Euthanasia may be voluntary, non voluntary and involuntary. When terminally ill patient consented to end his or her life, it is called voluntary euthanasia. Non voluntary euthanasia occurs when the suffering person never consented nor requested to end a life. These patients are incompetent to decide because they are either minor, in a comatose stage or have mental conditions. Involuntary euthanasia is conducted when it is against the will of the patient (Gupta, Bhatnagar, Mishra). Euthanasia can be either passive or active. Passive euthanasia means life-sustaining treatments are withheld and nothing is done to keep the patient alive. Active euthanasia occurs when a physician do something by giving drugs or substances that ends a patient’s life. (Medical News Today)
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.
I was very excited to take Death and Dying as a college level course. Firstly, because I have always had a huge interest in death, but it coincides with a fear surrounding it. I love the opportunity to write this paper because I can delve into my own experiences and beliefs around death and dying and perhaps really establish a clear personal perspective and how I can relate to others in a professional setting.