Harvard ethicist Robert Truog on ambiguities of brain death
In August 1968, a committee at Harvard Medical School published a landmark document titled “A Definition of Irreversible Coma.” In addition to the traditional way of defining death, in terms of the loss of cardiorespiratory function, the committee suggested a new definition of death — brain death — that focused on the loss of neurological function. The report provided a foundation for the eventual adoption of legislation that established brain death as legal death in all 50 states. The issue has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years, due in large part to the case of Jahi McMath, whose brain death was contested by her family for nearly five years, during which time the California girl grew, developed, and even went through puberty. McMath died on June 22, following liver failure. In a recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Harvard bioethicist Robert Truog called attention to how the McMath...