Bioethics and the Dogma of “Brain Death”

[Clark]

http://www.thehastingscenter.org/Bioethicsforum/Post.aspx?id=6769&blogid=140

Bioethics and the Dogma of “Brain Death”
Franklin G. Miller and Robert D. Truog,
 
Two cases involving “brain death” have received considerable public attention, including commentary by several well-known bioethicists. In commenting on these cases the bioethicists have stated, in no uncertain terms, that an individual correctly diagnosed as “brain dead” is dead, pure and simple.  Contrary to appearances of being alive, in reality the “brain dead” individual is a corpse.  These statements are misleading because they have ignored the long-standing controversy and debate in the professional literature over the determination of death:  specifically, whether individuals diagnosed as “brain dead” should be considered dead and, if so, why they are dead.

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