Top

Published in:

01-12-2016 | Philosophical Exploration

When Brain Death Belies Belief

Authors: Greg Yanke, Mohamed Y. Rady, Joseph L. Verheijde

Published in: Journal of Religion and Health | Issue 6/2016

Abstract

The case of Jahi McMath has reignited a discussion concerning how society should define death. Despite pronouncing McMath brain dead based on the American Academy of Neurology criteria, the court ordered continued mechanical ventilation to accommodate the family’s religious beliefs. Recent case law suggests that the potential for a successful challenge to the neurologic criteria of death provisions of the Uniform Determination of Death Act are greater than ever in the majority of states that have passed religious freedom legislation. As well, because standard ethical claims regarding brain death are either patently untrue or subject to legitimate dispute, those whose beliefs do not comport with the brain death standard should be able to reject it.

Ayeh, D. D., Tak, H. J., Yoon, J. D., & Curlin, F. A. (2016). U.S. physicians’ opinions about accommodating religiously based requests for continued life-sustaining treatment. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 51(6), 971–978.CrossRefPubMed

Bernat, J. L. (2014). Whither brain death? American Journal of Bioethics, 14(8), 3–8.CrossRefPubMed

Bernat, J. L., & Larriviere, D. (2014). Areas of persisting controversy in brain death. Neurology, 83(16), 1394–1395.CrossRefPubMed

Burkle, C. M., Sharp, R. R., & Wijdicks, E. F. (2014). Why brain death is considered death and why there should be no confusion. Neurology, 83(16), 1464–1469.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., 134 S.Ct. 2751 (2014).

City of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507 (1997).

Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Dept. of Health 497 U.S. 261 (1990).

Davis v. Beason, 133 U.S. 333 (1890).

Delaney, R. (2010). Defining death: Why all 50 states should adopt the Uniform Definition of Death Act with a religious exception. Marquette University Legal Studies Research Paper Series: Research Paper No. 10–24.

Eilperin, J. (2014). States have heightened religious freedom protections. The Washington Post (online). Retrieved from: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/03/01/where-in-the-u-s-are-there-heightened-protections-for-religious-freedom/.

Employment Division, Department of Human Resources v. Smith, 494 US 872 (1990).

Feinberg, J. (1984). Harm to others. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Fins, J. J. (1995). Across the divide: Religious objections to brain death. Journal of Religion and Health, 34(1), 33–39.CrossRefPubMed

Fins, J. J. (2015). Rights come to mind. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRef

Ghosal, S., & Greer, D. M. (2015). Why is diagnosing brain death so confusing? Current Opinion in Critical Care, 21, 107–112.CrossRef

Gonzales v. Carthart, 550 U.S. 124 (2007).

Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao do Vegetal, 546 U.S. 416 (2006).

Greer, D. M., Wang, H. H., Robinson, J. D., Varelas, P. N., Henderson, G. V., & Wijdicks, E. F. (2016). Variability of brain death policies in the United States. JAMA Neurology, 73(2), 213–218.CrossRefPubMed

In Re Guardianship Hailu, 2015 NV 89 (2015).

Isaacson v. Horne, 716 F.3d 1213 (9th Cir. 2013).

Joffe, A., Anton, N. R., Duff, J. P., & deCaen, A. (2012). A survey of American neurologists about brain death: Understanding the conceptual basis and underlying diagnostic tests for brain death. Annals of Intensive Care, 2(4), 1–8.

Kahn, P. A. (2016). Bioethics, religion, and public policy: Intersections, interactions, and solutions. Journal of Religion and Health, 55(5), 1546–1560.CrossRefPubMed

Kotloff, R. M., Blosser, S., Fulda, G. J., Malinoski, D., Ahya, V. N., Angel, L., et al. (2015). Management of the potential organ donor in the ICU: Society of Critical Care Medicine/American College of Chest Physicians/Association of Organ Procurement Organizations Consensus Statement. Critical Care Medicine, 43(6), 1291–1325.CrossRefPubMed

Luce, J. M. (2015). The uncommon case of Jahi McMath. Chest, 147(4), 1144–1151.CrossRefPubMed

Luper, S. (2004). Posthumous harm. American Philosophical Quarterly, 41(1), 63–72.

Luper, S. (2013). Retroactive harms and wrongs. In B. Bradley, F. Feldman, & J. Johansson (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of philosophy of death (pp. 317–335). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Magnus, D. C., Wilfond, B. S., & Caplan, A. L. (2014). Accepting brain death. New England Journal of Medicine, 370(10), 891–894.CrossRefPubMed

Nair-Collins, M. (2010). Death, brain death, and the limits of science: Why the whole-brain concept of death is a flawed public policy. Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics, 38(3), 667–683.CrossRefPubMed

Paris, J. J., Cummings, B. M., & Moore, M. P. (2014). ‘Brain death’, ‘dead’, and parental denial. Cambridge Quarterly of Heathcare Ethics, 23, 371–382.CrossRef

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Pub. L. No. 111-148, 124 Stat. 119, codified as 42 U.S.C. § 18001 (2010).

Peterson, A., Norton, L., Naci, L., Owen, A. M., & Weijer, C. (2014). Toward a science of brain death. American Journal of Bioethics, 14(8), 29–31.CrossRefPubMed

Pope, T. (2015). Brain death: Legal duties to accommodate religious objections. Chest, 148(2), E69.CrossRefPubMed

Portmore, D. W. (2007). Desire fulfillment and posthumous harm. American Philosophical Quarterly, 44(1), 27–38.

President’s Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavorial Research. (1981). Defining death: A report on the medical, legal, and ethical issues in the determination of death. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.

President’s Council on Bioethics. (2008). Controversies in the determination of death. Washington: President’s Council on Bioethics.

Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Pub. L. No. 103-141, 107 Stat. 1488 (1993).

Reynolds v. U.S., 98 U.S. 145 (1878).

Robertson, J. (2014). Should we scrap the death donor rule? American Journal of Bioethics, 14(8), 52–53.CrossRefPubMed

Shappell, C. N., Frank, J. I., Husari, K., Sanchez, M., Goldenberg, F., & Ardelt, A. (2013). Practice variability in brain death determination: A call to action. Neurology, 81(23), 2009–2014.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S. 398 (1963).

Shewmon, D. A. (2001). The brain and somatic integration: Insights into the standard biological rationale for equating ‘brain death’ with death. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, 26(5), 457–478.CrossRefPubMed

Sperling, D. (2008). Posthumous interests: Legal and ethical perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Thomas v. Collins, 323 U.S. 516 (1945).

Truog, R. D., & Miller, F. G. (2014). Changing the conversation about brain death. American Journal of Bioethics, 14(8), 9–14.CrossRefPubMed

Uniform Determination of Death Act, 12 Uniform Laws Annotated (U.L.A.) 589 (West 1993 and West Supp. 1997).

United States v. Ballard, 322 U.S. 78 (1944).

United States v. Seeger, 380 U.S. 163 (1965).

Verheijde, J. L., Rady, M. Y., & McGregor, J. L. (2009). Brain death, states of impaired consciousness, and physician-assisted death for end-of-life organ donation and transplantation. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy, 12(4), 409–421.CrossRef

Washington v. Glucksberg, 501 U.S. 702 (1997).

Wijdicks, E. F., & Pfeifer, E. A. (2008). Neuropathology of brain death in the modern transplant era. Neurology, 70(15), 1234–1237.CrossRefPubMed

Winkfield v. Children’s Hospital Oakland. Case No. C13-5993 SBA, California Northern District Ct: Oakland Division (2013).

Title: When Brain Death Belies Belief
Authors: Greg Yanke
Mohamed Y. Rady
Joseph L. Verheijde
Publication date: 01-12-2016
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Journal of Religion and Health / Issue 6/2016
Print ISSN: 0022-4197
Electronic ISSN: 1573-6571
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-016-0298-4

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

When Brain Death Belies Belief

Abstract

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 6/2016

Exploring Existential Coping Resources: The Perspective of Koreans with Cancer

Enhancing Sense of Coherence and Mindfulness in an Ecclesiastical, Intercultural Group Training Context

Parental and God Representations Among Individuals with Psychosis: A Grounded Theory Analysis

Opinions of Social Workers in Turkey About the Principles on Die with Dignity

Well-Being and Wellness in the Twenty-First Century: A Theanthropocosmic Approach

Influence of Religion on Attitude Towards Suicide: An Indian Perspective