{"id":1986533,"date":"2023-07-31T03:49:02","date_gmt":"2023-07-31T07:49:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/redefining-death-would-pull-the-plug-on-brain-damaged-patients\/"},"modified":"2023-07-31T03:56:22","modified_gmt":"2023-07-31T07:56:22","slug":"redefining-death-would-pull-the-plug-on-brain-damaged-patients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/redefining-death-would-pull-the-plug-on-brain-damaged-patients\/","title":{"rendered":"Redefining death may end treatment for brain-damaged patients."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fredefining-death-would-pull-the-plug-on-brain-damaged-patients%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1986533&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<p><strong>In \u20632013, the world watched \u2062as the family of Jahi McMath fought her physicians to continue <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-derek-chauvin-trial-coverage-to-ninth-day\/\" title=\"The Derek Chauvin Trial \u2013 Coverage to Ninth Day\">mechanical ventilation<\/a> after she\u2019d been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/he-was-a-live-donor-for-the-first-time-we-have-proof-of-chinas-organ-harvesting-operation\/\" title=\"\u2018He Was A Live Donor\u2019: For The First Time, We Have Proof Of China\u2019s Organ Harvesting Operation\">declared \u201cbrain dead<\/a>.\u201d<\/strong> Her family was able to secure her release only after \u2064agreeing to the declaration of death, and they \u2062moved her \u2064to a\u200b <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/redefining-death-would-pull-the-plug-on-brain-damaged-patients\/\" title=\"Redefining death may end treatment for brain-damaged patients.\">long-term\u200c care facility<\/a>, and eventually an apartment, in the state of \u2064New Jersey. She lived for another five years, ultimately \u200cpassing away in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfgate.com\/bayarea\/article\/Nearly-5-years-after-being-declared-dead-Oakland-13055330.php\">June 2018<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Complex Decisions and Legal Designations<\/h2>\n<p>One of the most complex decisions\u2062 a family will make\u2063 is\u2064 to remove life support when someone they \u200dlove has suffered a tragic accident. When faced with these situations, medical professionals are in a unique position to\u2064 provide guidance regarding how \u200dend-of-life care should proceed. Most of the time, families and doctors concur when the right time has\u200b come to remove\u2062 mechanical ventilation, and a loved one \u200bdies\u200b peacefully. But occasionally a dispute arises, like in the case of \u200cMcMath, and the courts become involved. <\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Part of \u200cthe reason for \u200dthis involvement is because \u201cbrain death\u201d is not\u2063 a \u2063medical designation, \u2062but a\u200d legal one. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>To bridge \u200cthe gap between \u200dmedical \u2064discrepancies, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uniformlaws.org\/home\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Uniform\u200c Law Commission<\/a> is considering \u200dan \u200b <a href=\"https:\/\/www.acpjournals.org\/doi\/10.7326\/m19-2731\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">updated version<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/healthcare\/patient-rights\/what-is-the-uniform-declaration-of-death-act-or-udda.html\">Uniform\u200b Determination of \u2063Death \u200cAct<\/a> (UDDA) \u2014 \u200cthe\u2062 RUDDA \u2064\u2014\u2063 which it hopes will align U.S. standards with those of other nations. These standards are also meant to be adopted across \u2064state \u200clines, bringing all states in accord regarding what constitutes \u200blegal, neurological death. <\/p>\n<p>In 1981 the UDDA was passed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/healthcare\/patient-rights\/what-is-the-uniform-declaration-of-death-act-or-udda.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">in<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/healthcare\/patient-rights\/what-is-the-uniform-declaration-of-death-act-or-udda.html\">  response<\/a> to evolving medical advances,\u2063 particularly mechanical ventilation. Our\u2063 new ability to renew\u200c the respiration of a dying person was miraculous, but\u200c it also created a\u2064 conundrum: Previously, death was determined by the cessation of a heartbeat and breathing.\u200c Mechanical ventilation disrupted this process and left clinicians with moral and ethical questions regarding how to confirm their patients\u2019 \u2064deaths. <\/p>\n<p>If doctors could \u2064not\u200c determine death based on \u2062lack of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/will-pfizer-be-charged-for-mislabeling-vaccine-side-effects\/\" title=\"Will Pfizer Be Charged for Mislabeling Vaccine Side Effects?\">cardio-respiratory arrest<\/a>, patients could linger unresponsive for years in a\u2063 hospital bed, loved ones couldn\u2019t begin the grieving process, inheritances\u2062 could not be distributed, and \u2014 in \u2062a situation where violence had occurred \u2014 justice for a loss of \u2062life could not be sought. In addition to \u2062questions about a patient\u2019s care, mechanical ventilation\u2064 could limit \u200bthe donation of healthy organs for transplant \u2014 a novel \u200dbut important possibility at the time.<\/p>\n<h3>Challenges and Controversies<\/h3>\n<p>A \u200bnew criterion for determining when death occurred was pragmatic. It would protect physicians from criminal charges and\/or malpractice suits\u2064 and\u2062 seemed to \u200dbe\u2062 in the best interests of both the patients and their families.<\/p>\n<p>Except it may not \u200dhave \u200bbeen then and\u200c may not be \u200bnow.<\/p>\n<p>There was immediate opposition to the guidelines from many doctors, who correctly surmised that \u201cbrain death\u201d didn\u2019t \u2063always mean \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2018\/07\/harvard-ethicist-robert-truog-on-why-brain-death-remains-controversial\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">biological death<\/a>.\u201d There were (and still are) valid concerns that at least one step in the process\u2063 of determining whether brain death has occurred \u2064\u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/10585628\/\">the <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/10585628\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">apnea test<\/a> \u2014 could lead to \u201cirreversible brain damage\u201d in a person who could be capable of some recovery. \u2062There are also concerns regarding the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/21507740.2021.1973148\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">criteria disregarding some brain functions<\/a>. Most initial opposition, however, stayed\u200d in academic\u2063 circles,\u200b and overall \u201cbrain death\u201d became a socially acceptable concept. <\/p>\n<p>As time\u2064 has passed and\u200d the general population has \u200dfound\u200c complex\u200b medical \u200cinformation more accessible, families have begun to push back and request treatment for their seemingly dead relatives. <\/p>\n<p>In at least one case \u2014 that\u200d of Jahi McMath \u2014 pushback displayed the problems inherent with the concept of \u201cbrain\u200c death,\u201d as McMath was clearly \u2062not dead \u200band continued to grow and mature over time,\u2062 even going through puberty and having\u2063 menstrual \u200dcycles. <\/p>\n<p>Between her discharge from the hospital in \u20632013 (where she \u200dwas declared \u200b\u201cbrain dead\u201d\u2063 and a death certificate was issued), and the actual end of her life in 2018, video evidence <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/tHD0OUUfiR0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">unequivocally proved<\/a> she could hear those around her, responding to simple directions \u2062to move her fingers, hands, \u200cand\u200d legs. <\/p>\n<p>In other cases,\u2064 patients who have been declared \u201cbrain dead\u201d have\u2062 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/2018\/05\/06\/miracle-child-recovers-sign-donate-organs-trenton-mckinley\/585044002\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">awoken \u200bfrom comas<\/a> days before organ harvesting was\u2062 to occur, or even <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Health\/patient-wakes-doctors-remove-organs\/story?id=19609438\">in\u2062 the<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Health\/patient-wakes-doctors-remove-organs\/story?id=19609438\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">  operating room<\/a> as organ procurement was about \u200cto begin. <\/p>\n<p>In \u200dthese cases, \u200bmedical \u200cconsensus claims that common protocols to determine brain\u2062 death were not followed, resulting in mistakes. This discrepancy could be due\u200b to the UDDA being a federally created legal parameter for death, which\u2064 differs from one state to the next and across \u2063international borders. These discrepancies \u2063support the perception that \u200ba designation of \u201cbrain death\u201d is\u2063 <a href=\"https:\/\/journalofethics.ama-assn.org\/article\/inconsistency-brain-death-determination-should-not-be-tolerated\/2020-12\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">arbitrary<\/a>: \u2064If a\u200d doctor in \u2062New Jersey says a person \u2062is alive, but a doctor in California says the same person is dead,\u2062 who\u2064 is correct? And why \u2064should we trust medical professionals with something this important when they can\u2019t even trust one another?<\/p>\n<h2>Proposed Changes and Concerns<\/h2>\n<p>The authors of the new\u200b RUDDA standards \u200bhave proposed the following <a href=\"https:\/\/alexschadenberg.blogspot.com\/2023\/06\/committee-stalemate-over-contraversial.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reasons<\/a> for the changes: <\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>To make it more difficult for families, especially families \u2064of minor children, to file suit against hospitals attempting to remove\u200c their children\u2019s\u200c life support. <\/li>\n<li>To free up hospital beds and other\u200b medical \u2063resources. <\/li>\n<li>To make available more organs for harvesting\u200c and donation.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>In other words: The authors of this revision are suggesting physicians should be able to override parents\u2019 desires for medical\u200d care, ration treatment and hospital beds (a gift to insurance \u2064companies), and end people\u2019s lives\u2062 more\u200d quickly to increase the \u200dsupply of organs for\u2062 donation.<\/p>\n<p>To accomplish these goals, the specific changes\u200d suggested\u2064 will loosen current guidelines, requiring only \u200dbrain stem injury, \u2063rather than whole-brain death.\u2062 It excludes \u200bcertain brain functions \u2064from being considered evidence of life. <\/p>\n<p>Also included \u2064in the draft\u2062 language is a change\u2063 from \u201cirreversible\u201d damage to \u201cpermanent\u201d damage. The\u200b international chair of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, Alex Schadenberg,\u2064 clarifies in \u2062 <a href=\"https:\/\/alexschadenberg.blogspot.com\/2023\/06\/committee-stalemate-over-contraversial.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pastors-call-out-conversion-therapy-laws\/\" title=\"Pastors Call Out \u2018Conversion Therapy\u2019 Laws\">recent blog post<\/a><\/a> the danger of\u2063 this interpretation of\u2063 brain death: It could potentially allow physicians to \u200cchoose whether to treat patients who may be capable of recovery. <\/p>\n<p>The proposed new standards have come under fire from some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehastingscenter.org\/defining-brain-death\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">medical bioethicists<\/a>, who agree a revision is necessary\u200c but who do\u200b not\u200d concur the proposed\u200b revisions \u200bare appropriate. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usccb.org\/resources\/Joint_submission_NCBC_and_USCCB_on_UDDA_2023.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Religious groups<\/a> \u2063 have also expressed reservations about\u2064 the proposed updates \u2014 clarifying\u2063 that language included in RUDDA could create a situation\u2064 where organ harvesting \u200dcould be the true cause of \u2062death for patients. <\/p>\n<p>Without further\u200d exploration of these criteria, \u200crevising these standards to suit the needs of medical professionals and insurance companies rather than patients who have\u2062 suffered catastrophic \u2062medical emergencies and become disabled can \u2063only result in \u2062the premature death of many living \u2064people. <\/p>\n<p>Killing is not health care. To\u200b pretend\u200d otherwise is a grave\u2062 dereliction of duty, \u200band physicians and lawmakers who would propose altering an already \u2062controversial \u200dguideline to make it\u200d even more problematic \u2064would be wise to\u200c focus instead\u200d on establishing trust with the \u2063people they serve.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2013, Jahi McMath&#8217;s family battled doctors to maintain life support despite her being declared &#8220;brain dead.&#8221; They succeeded in relocating her to a long-term care facility and later an apartment, but only after accepting the declaration of death. The world closely followed this emotional journey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1004,"featured_media":1986534,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1986533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1986533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1004"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1986533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1986533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1986534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1986533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1986533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1986533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}