Brain Death & the Termination of Life

1. Cardiopulmonary function.

B. Resuscitative technologies.

1. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

2. Artificial respiration.

1. Harvard brain death criteria.

D. Current use of old death criteria.

1. Do-not-resuscitate orders.

B. Should the person be allowed to die?

1. The right to refuse treatment.

2. Criteria of death statutes.

3. "Right to die" statutes.

A. Aggressive therapy versus prolonged death.

1. Voluntary passive euthanasia.

2. Nonvoluntary passive euthanasia.

3. Voluntary active euthanasia.

4. Patient autonomy.

 Brain Death and the Termination of Life

Ideas about death are continually changing. Whereas death was once determined on the basis of heart and lung function, the current focus is on brain activity. With advances in medical technology it has become increasingly possible to sustain life beyond what might be deemed acceptable. Such circumstances have created considerable controve

. . .
lieve that death may be established merely through clinical examination. In contrast, others believe that various tests (e.g., the electroencephalography or arteriography) are necessary to confirm the diagnosis. One particularly important development occurred in this field in 1971. During that year two neurosurgeons in the United States observed that "'in patients with known but irreparable intracranial lesions,' irreversible damage to the brainstem was the 'point of no return.'" Moreover, the neurosurgeons reported that the diagnosis of brainstem death could be based solely on "clinical grounds." Thus it was that the evaluation of brainstem activity became crucial to the determination of whether or not a patient was dead. Despite such progress though, the old death criteria are still used in certain cases. For patients with do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders, cessation of heart and lung function establishes death. There are various underlying rationales for the use of DNR orders in certain cases. For one, physicians have no obligation to provide--and patients have no right to demand--treatment that is of no clear benefit. Second, DNR orders can be appropriate for patients whose quality of life after resuscitation might
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1525
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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