A matter of life and death: What every anesthesiologist should know about the medical, legal, and ethical aspects of declaring brain death

Anesthesiology

Volumn 91, Issue 1, 1999, Pages 275-287

  Van Norman, Gail A ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON   (United States)

Author keywords

Ethics; Organ donation; Transplantation

Indexed keywords

BRAIN DEATH; HUMAN; LEGAL ASPECT; MEDICAL ETHICS; ORGAN DONOR; ORGAN TRANSPLANTATION; PRIORITY JOURNAL; REVIEW;

DEATH AND EUTHANASIA;

ADULT; ANESTHESIOLOGY; BRAIN DEATH; ETHICS, MEDICAL; FEMALE; HUMANS; MALE;

EID: 0033057977     PISSN: 00033022     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1097/00000542-199907000-00036     Document Type: Review

References (74)

1. Adapted from Goldman W: The Princess Bride.
2. Kirby RR, Smith RA: An overview of anesthesia and critical care medicine, Anesthesia, 2nd Edition. Edited by Miller R. New York, Churchill-Livingston, 1986, pp 2152-60
3. Kouwenhoven WB, Jude JR, Knickerbocker GG: Closed-chest cardiac massage. JAMA 1960; 173:1064-7
4. Rothman D: Strangers at the Bedside. A History of How Law and Bioethics Transformed Medical Decision Making. New York, Harper-Collins, 1991, pp 148-67
5. Gravenstein JS: Henry K. Beecher: The introduction of anesthesia into the university. ANESTHESIOLOGY 1998; 88:245-53
6. Giacomini M: A change of heart and a change of mind: Technology and the redefinition of death in 1968. Soc Sci Med 1997; 44: 1465-82
7. A definition of irreversible coma: A report of the ad hoc committee of the Harvard Medical School to examine the definition of brain death: JAMA 1968; 205:337-40
8. Firestone L: Organ transplantation. Int Anesth Clin 1991; 29: xi-xii
9. Gallup Organization: The US public's attitudes towards organ transplants/organ donation. Princeton, Gallup Organization, 1987
10. Rivers EP, Buse SM, Bivins BA, Horst HM: Organ and tissue procurement in the acute care setting: Principles and practice: I. Ann Emerg Med 1990; 19:131-8
11. Soukup M: Organ donation from the family of a totally brain-dead donor: Professional responsiveness. Crit Care Nurs Q 1991; 13: 8-18
12. Murray TH: Gifts of the body and the needs of strangers. Hastings Cent Rep 1987; 17:30-8
13. Andersen KS, Fox DM: The impact of routine inquiry laws on organ donation. Health Aff Millwood 1988; 7:65-78
14. Sadler AM, Sadler BL: A community of givers, not takers. Hastings Cent Rep 1984; 14:6-9
15. Associated Press: Bill would allow automatic donation. American Medical News, March 22/29, 1993:10
16. Klassen AC, Klassen DK: Who are the donors in organ donation? The family's perspective in mandated choice. Ann Intern Med 1996; 125:70-3
17. Youngner ST: Organ retrieval: Can we ignore the dark side? Transplant Proc 1990; 22:1014-5
18. President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research: Defining death. Washington, DC, US Government Printing Office, 1981
19. Newsweek, December 18, 1967:86
20. A Task Force on Organ Transplantation: Organ Transplantation Issues and Recommendations. Washington, DC, US Department of Health and Human Services, 1986
21. Sanner M: A comparison of public attitudes toward autopsy, organ donation, and anatomic dissection. JAMA 1994; 271:284-8
22. Manninen DL, Evans RW: Public attitudes and behavior regarding organ donation. JAMA 1985; 253:3111-5
23. DeJong W, Franz HG, Wolfe SM, Nathan H, Payne D, Reitsma W, Beasley C: Requesting organ donation: An interview study of donor and nondonor families. Am J Crit Care 1998; 7:13-23
24. Guidelines for the determination of death: Report of the medical consultants on the diagnosis of death to the president's commission for the study of ethical problems in medicine and biomedical and behavioral research. JAMA 1981; 246:2184-6
25. McCaman B, Hirsh HL: Brain death: Legal issues. Heart Lung 1979; 8:1098-1102
26. Cover B, Overcast T: Organ procurement and transplantation manual: Laws, regulations, and guidelines. Owens Mill, National Health Publishing, May 1988
27. Singer PA: A review of public policies to procure and distribute kidneys for transplantation. Arch Intern Med 1990; 150:523-7
28. Swinbanks D: Japan reaches a compromise on organ transplants. Nature 1997; 387:835
29. Jonsen AR, Veatch RM, Walters L: Source Book in Bioethics: A Documentary History. Washington, DC, Georgetown University Press, 1998
30. Norton, DJ: Clinical applications of brain death protocols. J Neurosci Nurs 1992; 24:354-8
31. Singer PA, Siegler M: Elective use of life-sustaining treatments in internal medicine. Adv Intern Med 1991; 36:57-79
32. Gelb AW, Robertson KM: Anaesthetic management of the brain dead for organ donation. Can J Anaesth 1990; 37:806-12
33. Christie JM, O'Lenic TD, Cane RD: Head turning in brain death. J Clin Anesth 1996; 8:141-3
34. O'Connell DA: Ethical implications of organ transplantation. Crit Care Nurs Q 1991; 13:1-7
35. Linde-Zwirble ME, Streletzky-Bishop BS, Menker JB: Management of the organ donor: A first step in transplantation. Crit Care Nurs Q 1991; 13:19-24
36. Robertson KM, Cook DR: Perioperative management of the multiorgan donor. Anesth Analg 1990; 70:546-56
37. Plum F, Posner JB: Diagnosis of Stupor and Coma. Philadelphia, FA Davis Company, 1980, pp 55-6, 61-4, 317
38. 2 augmentation. Neurology 1995; 45:966-9
39. Dobb GJ, Weekes JW: Clinical confirmation of brain death. Anaesth Intensive Care 1995; 23:37-43
40. Kaukinen S, Makela K, Hakkinen VK, Martikainen K: Significance of electrical brain activity in brain-stem death. Intensive Care Med 1995; 21:76-8
41. Grigg MM, Kelly MA, Celesia GG, Ghobrial MW, Ross E: Electroencephalographic activity after brain death. Arch Neurol 1987; 44: 948-54
42. An appraisal of the criteria of cerebral death: A summary statement. A collaborative study. JAMA 1977; 237;982-6
43. Paolin A, Manuali A, Di-Paola F, Boccaletto F, Caputo P, Zanata R, Bardin GP, Simini G: Reliability in diagnosis of brain death. Intensive Care Med 1995; 21:657-62
44. Laurin NR, Driedger AA, Hurwitz GA, Mattar AG, Powe JE, Chamberlain MJ, Zabel PL, Pavlosky WF: Cerebral perfusion imaging with technetium 99m HM-PAO in brain death and severe central nervous system injury. J Nucl Med 1989; 30:1627-35
45. Goldie WD, Chiappa KH, Young RR, Brooks EB: Brainstem auditory and short latency somatosensory evoked responses in brain death. Neurology 1981; 31:248-56
46. Ashwal S: Brain death in the newborn. Clin Perinatol 1997; 24:859-82
47. Report of a special task force: American Academy of Pediatrics Task Force on Brain Death in Children: Guidelines for the determination of brain death in children. Pediatrics 1987; 80:298-300
48. Fishman MA: Validity of brain death criteria in infants. Pediatrics 1995; 96:513-5
49. Ashwal S, Shneider S: Brain death in the newborn. Pediatrics 1989; 84:429-37
50. Parker BL, Frewen TC, Levin SD, Ramsay DA, Young GB, Reid RH, Singh NC, Gillett JM: Declaring pediatric brain death: Current practice in a Canadian pediatric critical care unit. Can Med Assoc J 1995; 153:909-16
51. Youngner SJ, Landefeld CS, Coulton CJ, Juknialis BW, Leary M: Brain death and organ retrieval: A cross-sectional survey of knowledge and concepts among health professionals. JAMA 1989; 261:2205-10
52. Burns JP, Reardon FE, Truog RD: Using newly deceased patients to teach resuscitation procedures. New Engl J Med 1994; 331:1652-5
53. Lynch MJ: Duty for respecting the dead body. Transplant Proc 1990; 22:1021-2
54. Arnold RM, Youngner S: Voluntary organ donation and autonomy . . . tragedy (reply). JAMA 1993; 270:1930-1
55. Lynch A: Respect for the dead human body: A question of body, mind, spirit, psyche. Transplant Proc 1990; 22:1016-8
56. In the Matter of Karen Quinlan, An Alleged Incompetent. 355 A2d 647 (NJ Super Ct Cir 1976)
57. Beachamp TL, Childress JF: Biomedical Ethics, 4th Edition. New York, Oxford University Press, 1990, pp 189, 226
58. Jonsen AR: Blood transfusion and Jehovah's Witnesses: The impact of the patient's unusual beliefs in critical care. Crit Care Clin 1986; 2:91-100
59. Uhlmann RF, Pearlman RA, Cain KC: Physicians' and spouses' predictions of elderly patients' resuscitation preferences. J Gerentol 1988; 43:M115-21
60. Starr TJ, Pearlman RA, Uhlmann RF: Quality of life and resuscitation decisions in elderly patients. J Gen Intern Med 1986; 1:373-9
61. Jecker NS: Anencephalic infants and special relationships. Theor Med 1990; 11:333-42
62. Shelley EG: Ethical guidelines for organ transplantation: Report of the judicial council of the American Medical Association. JAMA 1968; 205:341-2
63. Truog RD, Fackler JC: Rethinking brain death. Grit Care Med 1992; 20:1705-13
64. Truog R: Is it time to abandon brain death? Hastings Cent Rep 1997; 27:29-37
65. Veatch RM: Death, Dying and the Biological Revolution. New Haven, Yale University Press, 1976
66. Steinbock B: Recovery from persistent vegetative state? The case of Carrie Coons. Hastings Cent Rep 1989; 19:14-5
67. Andrews K, Murphy L, Munday R, Littlewood C: Misdiagnosis of the vegetative state: Retrospective study in a rehabilitation unit. BMJ 1996; 313:13-6
68. Hauerwas S:. Must a person be a "person" to be a patient? Or my uncle Charlie is not much of a person, but he is still my uncle Charlie. Conn Med 1975; 39:815-7
69. Dagi TF: Commentary on "How much of the brain must die in brain death." J Clin Ethics 1992; 3:27-8
70. Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs, American Medical Association: The use of anencephalic neonates as organ donors. JAMA 1995; 273:1614-8
71. Churchill LR, Pinkus RL: The use of anencephalic organs: Historical and ethical dimensions. Milbank Q 1990; 68:147-69
72. Plows CW: Reconsideration of AMA opinion on anencephalic neonates as organ donors. JAMA 1996; 275:443-4
73. Rothenberg LS: The anencephalic neonate and brain death: An international review of medical, ethical, and legal issues. Transplant Proc 1990; 22:1037-9
74. Beachamp TL, Childress JF: Principles of Biomedical Ethics, 3rd Edition. New York, Oxford University Press, 1989, pp 256-302