Publication Date
5-1991
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Until approximately twenty years ago, human beings were not declared dead until they experienced an irreversible cessation of respiratory and circulatory functions. Use of these criteria-which are known as the heart-lung criteria for determining human death-was not problematical until modern medicine invented the means for artificially maintaining heartbeat and respiration. With the development of artificial life-support mechanisms, patients who were irreversibly comatose could be kept "alive" indefinitely. Maintaining these patients imposed financial and emotional hardships upon family members, utilized scarce medical resources in nonefficient ways, and denied use of comatose patients' organs for transplant purposes. In an attempt to remedy these problems, many states have enacted "declaration of death" statutes. Typically, these statutes allow physicians to choose between two different sets of criteria for determining human death. More specifically, determination of death statutes usually assert that human beings are dead whenever they: (1) meet the conditions specified in the heart-lung criteria, or (2) experience brain-death (i.e., sustain an irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem).
Recommended Citation
Humber, James M.
(1991)
"Statutory Criteria for Determining Human Death,"
Mercer Law Review: Vol. 42:
No.
3, Article 6.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.law.mercer.edu/jour_mlr/vol42/iss3/6