From my America Out Loud Pulse podcast with Paul A. Byrne, MD –https://www.americaoutloud.com/should-man-or-god-decide-whether-we-are-dead/
Our brave new world of medicine can keep the people alive who at an earlier time would not survive. But prediction of death is not the same as death.
Defining death matters most importantly to the living human being who is being declared dead. It also matters for a variety of reasons having nothing to do with medical care. Life insurance, homicide charges, wrongful death lawsuits. Of course, medically, health professionals think of maintaining organs for donation and the holders of the purse strings think of “wasted” resources. But a bigger reason is defining the limits of our humanity and our status of our souls.
When does a patient cross the line between life and death? The Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA) was created in 1981 in an attempt to resolve that question. The UDDA is a model state law that has been adopted is some form by all states. It was approved by the American Medical Association, the American Bar Association, and the President’s Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research.
The Act states:
“An individual who has sustained either (1) irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions, or (2) irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem, is dead. A determination of death must be made in accordance with accepted medical standards.”
The Act now is being revised. One suggestion is to change the word “irreversible” to “permanent.” Another is to allow a bedside determination without laboratory testing. These changes seem to make it easier to ration care and make more organs available for transplant
Today my guest, a pioneer in neonatology and perinatology, a pioneer in saving babies who were given up as certain to die has been writing on matters of life and death for over 40 years.
