Theories Of Brain Death

Medical records show that bones in his face were broken and he choked on his own blood.[5] The coroner concluded that compression of the thorax made it impossible for Thomas to breathe normally and deprived his brain of oxygen.[6] His parents removed him from life support five days later,

Louis Pojman and Roland Puccetti took the position that neocortical brain death was the best definition of death. Many implications resulted from this, including views on assisted death and organ transplant. Would this lead to a slippery slope regarding what death was? Would this lead to an increase in organs available for donation? These are only some of the implications that arose from Pojman and Puccetti’s position. Looking at the neocortical brain death position versus the biologically integrative whole brain position allowed for judgement on which definition had better merit. I will argue that the biological whole brain position is more inconsistent in regards to application. As such, I will take the position of advocating for the

Brain dead is when a person is in the state that they aren’t alive without the life support provided by the hospital. Causes of severe brain damage that lead to brain death would be experiencing trauma to the brain(car crash, gunshot wound, fall or blow to the brain), cerebrovascular injury(stroke or aneurysm), anoxia(drowning or heart attack), brain tumor, severe illness, and brain infection. This is not a coma or persistent negative state. It is determined in the hospital by one or more physicians not associated with a transplantation team(Finger Lakes Donor Recovery Network,

Lane died when he was at a rodeo in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Lane was riding a bull named Takin’ Care of Business, Lane dismounted and landed in the dirt. The bull turned and hit Lane in the side with his horn, breaking several of his ribs. Lane initially rose to his feet, waving at somebody for help. As he took a couple steps, he fell to the ground; when the bull hit him in the chest it broke several of his ribs which severed an artery that lead to his heart. Lane was rushed to Memorial Hospital. On the discovery that his heat injury was irreparable, the doctors pronounced

When his two nearest companions pulled away his clothes and looked at his neck, they had said him a solemn farewell in expectation of his death. We 'll meet again in a better world, they said. He was classed among the dying and put aside on a cot to do so. But he failed at it. After two days, space being short, they sent him on to a regular hospital in his own state. All through the mess of the field hospital and the long grim train ride south in a boxcar filled with wounded, he had agreed with his friends and the doctors. He thought he would die. About all he could remember of the trip was the heat and the odors of blood and of shit, for many of the wounded had the flux. (Frazier, 4)

McKee stated that the young man who was formally a good student, couldn’t even finish collage. At age 25, he died of heart attack. He was angry, depressed, and considering suicide. His family allowed researchers to examine his brain to see what was wrong. Researchers found tau tangles in over 10 parts of his brain. These threads tangled up his brain causing chronic traumatic encephalopathy, CTE. CTE victims can become aggressive, moody, depressed, or angry. Commonly, these CTE victims are former football players who didn’t know or care about crossing the

but it was too late! He was pronounced dead at the Vanderbilt Clinic of Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center less than 20 minutes after he was

They checked on him the next morning on the date of July 22 2015 and he was found dead. It says that he had died from natural causes. However, This shouldn’t be taken lightly. If

It was homecoming, 1988. I stood stunned on the sidelines with the other cheerleaders, praying that he would wake up. It had been 20 minutes and he still wasn’t moving. The crowd was silent as the ambulance pulled away. He would be pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital. Keith, our star linebacker, was 17 years-old, and our hearts were broken. His family was religiously opposed to an autopsy, but we were told he had likely died from a congenital cerebral aneurysm. 25 years later, almost to the day, I sat watching an ESPN discussion about an Arizona high school football player who had died after a game sustained concussion, likely from second impact syndrome. Suddenly I was back on that sideline. “Keith,” I said aloud to nobody in the

He spent more than three weeks in a coma and has permanent brain damage from his accident

Traditionally death was defined with the heart-lung criterion which referred to cardio-respiratory death. The lower brain is what controls respiration therefore the destruction of the brainstem causes loss of all cardio-respiratory vital signs and so death ensues. In 1981, a new definition arose which was labelled as Whole Brain Death. It is defined as an individual being declared dead, despite continuing functional vital signs. (Pojman, pp. 102) There is no consciousness, no control of brainstem reflexes, and a loss of cognitive functions. The individual’s survival is dependent on artificial mechanisms that are provided by doctors. This newer definition was created due to modern technology being able to revive someone who is cardio-respiratory

Luckily he made it off the operating table alive, despite the fact that the tube had slipped too far. However, he was paralyzed on his left side and died a few weeks later.

There have been many variations of what the definition of total death should be over time. Until the Harvard Medical Committee formed their definition in 1968 the common definition of death was that, once cessation of cardiovascular activity occurred, a person was considered dead. This was changed when the Harvard Medical Committee released their own definition, stating the adoption of the “irreversible coma” as being the new standard for determining end of life (Jonas, 132). Presently in the United States, the commonly accepted definition of death is formed under the Determination of Death Act which essentially states that “permanent cessation of the integrated functioning of the organism as a whole” (Morris, 55) and includes both cardiovascular function and brain function as the qualifiers for death. There are two positions present now that are laid out by Edmund Pellegrino in Controversies in the Determination of Death a White Paper of the President 's Council on Bioethics: Position One states that the current neurological standard is not biologically sound and should be redefined, and Position Two states that the neurological standard is biologically sound and should not be redefined (Pellegrino, 52-58). In this paper, I will argue that the neurological standard to determine whether a human being is dead should remain the primary method because it states that a human being needs to be working as a whole in order to be alive. This means that, for a person to be considered

Once an individual is pronounced as brain death that means no chance exists of recovery or survival. Unfortunate events most often cause the occurrence of brain death. Some examples of these types of events are car accidents, falls and contribute to fights and brawls. Social aspects are conducive in causing brain death such as drug overdose. Medical diagnoses, for instance, brain tumors, brain bleeds and stroke have been known to cause brain death. In order for a patient to be declared brain death, two physicians must conduct a brain death assessment and have absolute certainty. The brain death exam consists of identifying signs of complete unawareness, no response to pain, inability to open eyes, no reflexes, no movement and no ability to

This is why patients who are in comas or vegetable states live because although they may have no nerve function, their heart beats on.