{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,9]],"date-time":"2026-09-09T01:46:31Z","timestamp":1788918391565,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"7","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J Med Ethics"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2005,7]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>The \u201cstandard position\u201d on organ donation is that the donor must be dead in order for vital organs to be removed, a position with which we agree. Recently, Robert Truog and Walter Robinson have argued that (1) brain death is not death, and (2) even though \u201cbrain dead\u201d patients are not dead, it is morally acceptable to remove vital organs from those patients. We accept and defend their claim that brain death is not death, and we argue against both the US \u201cwhole brain\u201d criterion and the UK \u201cbrain stem\u201d criterion. Then we answer their arguments in favour of removing vital organs from \u201cbrain dead\u201d and other classes of comatose patients. We dispute their claim that the removal of vital organs is morally equivalent to \u201cletting nature take its course\u201d, arguing that, unlike \u201callowing to die\u201d, it is the removal of vital organs that kills the patient, not his or her disease or injury. Then, we argue that removing vital organs from living patients is immoral and contrary to the nature of medical practice. Finally, we offer practical suggestions for changing public policy on organ transplantation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1136\/jme.2004.010298","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2005,7,1]],"date-time":"2005-07-01T01:56:04Z","timestamp":1120182964000},"page":"406-409","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":35,"title":["Does it matter that organ donors are not dead? Ethical and policy implications"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"31","author":[{"given":"M","family":"Potts","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"D W","family":"Evans","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2005,6,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"2024052223274870000_31.7.406.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/01.CCM.0000090869.19410.3C"},{"key":"2024052223274870000_31.7.406.2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1478","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.323.7327.1478","volume":"323","year":"2001","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"key":"2024052223274870000_31.7.406.3","unstructured":"Potts M. Begging the question of when death occurs. http:\/\/bmj.bmjjournals.com\/cgi\/eletters\/323\/7327\/1478#18238 (accessed 9 Nov 2004)."},{"key":"2024052223274870000_31.7.406.4","unstructured":"Evans DW. Barnard\u2019s first transplants and concepts of death. http:\/\/bmj.bmjjournals.com\/cgi\/eletters\/323\/7327\/1478#18279 (accessed 9 Nov 2004)."},{"key":"2024052223274870000_31.7.406.5","unstructured":"Hill DJ. Deception of organ donors. http:\/\/bmj.bmjjournals.com\/cgi\/eletters\/323\/7327\/1478#18309 (accessed 9 Nov 2004)."},{"key":"2024052223274870000_31.7.406.6","unstructured":"Woodcock TE. Time for a new Human Organ Transplant Act? http:\/\/bmj.bmjjournals.com\/cgi\/eletters\/323\/7327\/1478#18387 (accessed 9 Nov 2004)."},{"key":"2024052223274870000_31.7.406.7","unstructured":"Jarvis GE. A history of death. http:\/\/bmj.bmjjournals.com\/cgi\/eletters\/323\/7327\/1478#18468 (accessed 9 Nov 2004)."},{"key":"2024052223274870000_31.7.406.8","unstructured":"Coimbra CG. Global ischemic penumbra and irreversible loss of brain (or brain stem) function. http:\/\/bmj.bmjjournals.com\/cgi\/eletters\/323\/7327\/1478#18780 (accessed 9 Nov 2004)."},{"key":"2024052223274870000_31.7.406.9","first-page":"1583","volume":"195","year":"1987","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"key":"2024052223274870000_31.7.406.10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.1968.03140320031009"},{"key":"2024052223274870000_31.7.406.11","unstructured":"President\u2019s 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 of the determination of death. 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