Proposed change to brain death laws draws criticism from some doctors, ethicists catholicworldreport.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from catholicworldreport.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Some Catholic doctors and medical ethicists have raised concern about possible forthcoming changes to the legal definition of brain death used in most U.S. states. The issue of whether family consent should be required for brain death testing is of particular importance, especially since a determination of brain death can allow for patients organs to be harvested if they are registered as an organ donor. It s somewhat interesting that the church formally declared a human person begins at the moment of conception, but at the end of life they re kind of passing the buck, said Joseph Eble, president of the Tulsa, Oklahoma guild of the Catholic Medical Association and co-author of a March article in Homiletic & Pastoral Review expressing concern about potential Uniform Determination of Death Act changes.
The Line Between Life and Death May Depend on Where You Live
Every state recognizes brain death, but the rules vary.
By Lola Butcher, Undark Fanatic Studio/Gary Waters/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARYGetty Images
Until Sept. 17, 2020, Sharon Frederick was an ostensibly healthy 63-year-old woman who spent her days caring for her disabled sister and going to church. That evening, she was praying the rosary over the telephone with a friend when she began slurring her words. By the time an ambulance delivered her to St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Utica, New York, Frederick was comatose after suffering a massive stroke.
Four days later, a physician declared her to be brain dead, and a death certificate was filed. Before she fell ill, however, Frederick had appointed two friends to act on her behalf if she were ever unable to make her own health care decisions. Her friends protested the diagnosis by filing a lawsuit that sought to void the death certificate and require the hospital t
Wrongful life lawsuits are becoming more commonâand more successful
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Often, malpractice lawsuits include claims that a health care provider s actions led to a patient s death. But in recent years, wrongful life lawsuits in which plaintiffs allege a health care provider tried to keep a patient alive against the patient s documented wishes have become more common, Paula Span reports for the
New York Times.
Why some providers get sued for wrongful life
According to a 2017 analysis of 150 studies, just under half of people over the age of 65 have an advanced directive that details their end-of-life wishes, and Span reports that there s evidence suggesting the share of people with advance directives has grown amid America s coronavirus epidemic.
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Many Americans took a good step for themselves and their loved ones after getting shocked by learning about treatments, like prolonged machine ventilation, that coronavirus patients may undergo. Not for me, the healthy may have decided. They committed to determining end-of-life wishes, committing these to “advance directives” or POLST (portable orders for life-sustaining treatment) forms.
That may just the start of what people need to do with these formal documents, now easily found online, reported Paula Span, the New York Times’ “New Old Age” columnist. They need to do more. (Hint: Some of this even may be covered under older adults’ health insurance, especially Medicare).