Is a Brain-Dead Body an Organism?

Is a Brain-Dead Body an Organism?

D. Alan Shewmon, MD

Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA Chief, Neurology Department
Olive View-UCLA Medical Center

German Ethics Council Bioethics Forum, Berlin
March 21, 2012

 

Definition of Death

 

“The  permanent  cessation of         functioning of the organism as a whole.”

Bernat et al., Ann Int Med 1981;94:389-94

Irreversible unconsciousness is not death.

 

PDF: Shewmon_-_Is_a_Brain-Dead_Body_an_Organism

 

Link collected : https://www.ethikrat.org/fileadmin/PDF-Dateien/Veranstaltungen/Shewmon_-_Is_a_Brain-Dead_Body_an_Organism.pdf