{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,5]],"date-time":"2026-10-05T06:49:49Z","timestamp":1791182989164,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":53,"publisher":"Cambridge University Press (CUP)","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,1]],"date-time":"2021-01-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1609459200000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":5114,"URL":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/terms"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J. Law. Med. Ethics"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2007]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>The concept of brain death was recently described as being \u201cat once well settled and persistently unresolved.\u201d Every day, in the United States and around the world, physicians diagnose patients as brain dead, and then proceed to transplant organs from these patients into others in need. Yet as well settled as this practice has become, brain death continues to be the focus of controversy, with two journals in bioethics dedicating major sections to the topic within the last two years.<\/jats:p><jats:p>By way of background, the Uniform Determination of Death Act states that \u201c[a]n 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.\u201d In other words, death can be defined by either cardiorespiratory or neurological criteria, with \u201cbrain death\u201d representing the loss of all brain function. This standard, or closely related variants, has become the accepted approach throughout the United States and in many parts of the world.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1748-720x.2007.00136.x","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2007,5,19]],"date-time":"2007-05-19T19:12:28Z","timestamp":1179601948000},"page":"273-281","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":72,"title":["Brain Death \u2014 Too Flawed to Endure, Too Ingrained to Abandon"],"prefix":"10.1017","volume":"35","author":[{"given":"Robert D.","family":"Truog","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"56","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib7","unstructured":"7. Id., (June 16, 2005)."},{"key":"#cr-split#-S1073110500003302_bib6.1","unstructured":"6. Willing, R. , \"Woman Is Kept Alive to Save Unborn Baby,\" USA Today, June 16, 2005"},{"key":"#cr-split#-S1073110500003302_bib6.2","unstructured":"Willing, R. , \"Brain-Dead Woman Dies After Baby Born,\" USA Today, August 4, 2005."},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2919","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.284.22.2919","article-title":"\u201cConsensus Statement on the Live Organ Donor,\u201d","volume":"284","author":"Abecassis","year":"2000","journal-title":"JAMA"},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib9","unstructured":"9. King, L. , \u201cInterview with Jason, Justin Torres,\u201d Larry King Live, CNN, June 30, 2005."},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1162\/152651603321611791"},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.1989.03420150096045"},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"406","DOI":"10.1136\/jme.2004.010298","article-title":"\u201cDoes It Matter That Organ Donors Are Not Dead? Ethical and Policy Implications,\u201d","volume":"31","author":"Truog","year":"2005","journal-title":"Journal of Medical Ethics"},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1826","DOI":"10.1097\/00003246-200109000-00029","article-title":"\u201cRecommendations for Nonheartbeating Organ Donation,\u201d","volume":"29","author":"DeVita","year":"2001","journal-title":"Critical Care Medicine"},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib52","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1399-3089.2004.00199.x"},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1164\/ajrccm.155.1.9001282"},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib43","unstructured":"43. I responded to the article at note 42 with a letter explaining the facts of brain death, but there were no responses to the issue of doctors taking organs from living patients: Truog, R. D. , Letter to the Editor, \u201cLet Organ-Donor Family Make Dignified Choice, Not Before Death,\u201d New York Times, June 8, 1996."},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib36","unstructured":"36. See Truog, and Robinson, supra note 12."},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib27","unstructured":"27. Id."},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib46","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1353\/ken.2004.0030"},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib17","unstructured":"17. See Truog, (1997), supra note 12."},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib21","first-page":"12","article-title":"\u201cMedical Futility in Intensive Care,\u201d","volume":"1","author":"Truog","year":"2005","journal-title":"ICU Management"},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.1989.03420150055037"},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib15","first-page":"105","article-title":"\u201cBrain Death and Personal Identity,\u201d","volume":"9","author":"Green","year":"1980","journal-title":"Philosophy and Public Affairs"},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib50","unstructured":"50. Gianelli, D. M. , \u201cEthics Council Reverses Stand on Anencephalic Organ Donors,\u201d American Medical News (Chicago), December 25, 1995."},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib42","unstructured":"42. Krieger, L. M. , \u201cA Life-and-Death Proposal,\u201d New York Times, June 5, 1996."},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib29","unstructured":"29. See Truog, and Robinson, supra note 12."},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib39","unstructured":"39. See Prendergast, and Luce, supra note 20."},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib44","unstructured":"44. \u201cNot Quite Dead,\u201d 60 Minutes, CBS, April 13, 1997."},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"275","DOI":"10.1353\/ken.0.0068","article-title":"\u201cBrain Death, Religious Freedom, and Public Policy: New Jersey's Landmark Legislative Initiative,\u201d","volume":"1","author":"Olick","year":"1991","journal-title":"Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal"},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2307\/25564222"},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1212\/WNL.58.1.20"},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib37","unstructured":"37. Parker, I. , \u201cThe Gift: Zell Kravinsky Gave Away Millions. But Somehow It Wasn't Enough,\u201d The New Yorker, August 2, 2004, at 54\u201363."},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib33","unstructured":"33. Id."},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib32","unstructured":"32. Id., at 268."},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib49","unstructured":"49. Gianelli, D. M. , \u201cAMA Organ Donor Opinion Sparks Ethics Debate,\u201d American Medical News (Chicago), July 25, 1994."},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib24","unstructured":"24. Associated Press, \u201cOrgan Donations Barred by Judge: Vital Organs of Doomed Girl Can't Be Given to Others, a Florida Judge Rules,\u201d New York Times, March 28, 1992."},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1046\/j.1365-2044.2000.055002105.x"},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJM200104193441611"},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib47","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1353\/ken.2004.0034"},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.1968.03140320031009"},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2307\/25564222"},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1353\/ken.2004.0032"},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib51","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1353\/hcr.2005.0035"},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib31","unstructured":"31. Id., at 267."},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib2","volume":"14","year":"2004","journal-title":"Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal"},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib8","unstructured":"8. See Willing, (August 4, 2005), supra note 6."},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJM199405263302107"},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1353\/ken.2004.0029"},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"48. See Veatch, (2003), supra note 28, at 10.","DOI":"10.1162\/152651603321611791"},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib34","unstructured":"34. See Veatch, (2003), supra note 28, at 11."},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib13","unstructured":"13. Id., ( Truog, and Robinson, )."},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/00003246-199212000-00018"},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib3","volume-title":"Defining Death: A Report on the Medical, Legal, and Ethical Issues in the Determination of Death","year":"1981"},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib18","unstructured":"18. I have covered only an overview of the arguments here; please see my earlier work, cited supra note 12, for a more thorough review of the problems with the concept of brain death."},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib26","unstructured":"26. Id., at 238."},{"key":"S1073110500003302_bib41","unstructured":"41. 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