Deck 4: Death Systems: Mortality and Society

Question 1

What is the application of medical knowledge to questions of law?

A) Medico-legalization
B) Court appointed medical examination
C) Forensic pathology
D) Thanatechnological

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following items is NOT matched correctly?

A) Murder: the deliberate intentional killing of another human being
B) Voluntary manslaughter: the killing of another human being in performance of a public duty
C) Involuntary manslaughter: the unintentional killing of another human being as a result of criminal carelessness
D) Noncriminal homicide: the killing of another human being involving self-defense

Answer 2

B

Question 3

A person who kills a member of his or her family is usually judged by society to be

A) not as threatening as someone who kills a stranger.
B) not responsible for the act due to insanity.
C) subject to the same code of justice as anyone else.
D) a major threat to the public at large.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

What is the coroner or medical examiner also known as?

A) A death investigator
B) The bondsman
C) U.S. Standards officer
D) Deputy

Question 5

Research indicates that capital punishment is

A) an exception to the notion that killing solves problems.
B) an effective deterrent for criminal behavior.
C) the strong penalty needed to make the criminal justice system work.
D) not an effective deterrent to murder.

Question 6

What is considered the most important legal procedure following a death?

A) Obituary
B) Death notice
C) Official registration of death
D) Coroner's report

Question 7

Which of the following are components of a "death system," as described by Robert Kastenbaum?
1) Places
2) Times
3) Objects
4) Regulations

A) 1, 3, and 4
B) 1, 2, and 4
C) 1, 2, and 3
D) 2, 3, and 4

Question 8

Which of the following are functions of a "death system"?
1) Preventing death
2) Making sense of the death
3) Disposing of the dead
4) Utilizing the environment

A) 1, 2, and 3
B) 1, 2, and 4
C) 1, 3, and 4
D) 2, 3, and 4

Question 9

What does the death certificate do?
1) Verifies identification of deceased
2) Affects disposition of property rights
3) Identifies the mode of death
4) Aids in crime detection

A) 1, 2, and 3
B) 1, 3, and 4
C) 1, 2, and 4
D) 2, 3, and 4

Question 10

In a study of more than 300 homicides in a major American city, it was found that

A) the more affluent the victim, the more likely the killer would be punished.
B) the more violent the method of killing, the more likely the killer would be punished.
C) the more intimate the relationship between killer and victim, the less likely the killer would be punished.
D) the more affluent the killer, the less likely the killer would be punished.

Question 11

A significant difference between a medical examiner and a coroner is that the

A) coroner is responsible for suicide prevention efforts whereas the medical examiner is not.
B) coroner must have specialized training in forensic pathology.
C) coroner is usually an elected official whereas the medical examiner is usually appointed.
D) coroners are qualified medical doctors.

Question 12

When can an autopsy be performed?
1) When required by law
2) After consent of the next of kin is obtained
3) When the deceased has made a body donation
4) When the research hospital needs a subject

A) 1, 2, and 3
B) 1, 2, and 4
C) 2, 3, and 4
D) 1, 3, and 4

Question 13

How does the separation of civil and criminal law affect the modern system of justice?

A) Modern law views the accused as having a problem with a particular person.
B) Modern law views violence as an outgrowth of social and psychological problems rather than as individual acts.
C) Modern law considers the accused and the victim as equals in the legal equation.
D) Modern law views homicide as an act committed against the state rather than against an individual.

Question 14

Except when required by law, an autopsy can be performed only after

A) the funeral director has been contacted by family and the funeral plans are in place.
B) the cause of death is determined and the corpse is deemed not contagious.
C) the next of kin's consent.
D) the provisions of the Informed Anatomical Donor form are in place.

Question 15

When death occurs in suspicious circumstances or is sudden and there is no physician to sign the death certificate, who determines and certifies the cause of death?

A) Attending police officer
B) Coroner
C) Next of kin
D) Funeral director

Question 16

The most important legal procedure following a death is considered to be the

A) official registration of the death.
B) publishing of the death notice.
C) reading of the will of the deceased.
D) distribution of property of the deceased.

Question 17

In a study of more than 300 homicides in a major American city, it was found that more than half of the

A) suspects had experienced significant social disadvantages.
B) suspects were released before reaching trial.
C) cases resulted from domestic violence.
D) cases were directly tied to financial gain.

Question 18

Devices such as a "life-preserving" coffin refers to a container that is

A) hermetically sealed.
B) elaborate and memorable with photos.
C) equipped to ensure very slow decay of the corpse.
D) equipped with a signaling device.

Question 19

The modes of death recognized by law include all of the following categories EXCEPT

A) accident.
B) homicide.
C) mature death.
D) suicide.

Question 20

What are the different modes of death on a typical death certificate?

A) Accidental, suspicious, homicidal, and natural
B) Intentional, suspicious, homicidal, and natural
C) Accidental, suicidal, homicidal, and natural
D) Suicidal, unintentional, homicidal, and natural

Question 21

According to the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, organ donation can be made by

A) the United Network for Organ Sharing.
B) the Centers for Rare Diseases to further research.
C) a decision made by the hospital ethics committee.
D) the next of kin unless there was a known objection by the deceased.

Question 22

In death, the rigidity of muscles is defined as

A) cellular mortis.
B) algor mortis.
C) livor mortis.
D) rigor mortis.

Question 23

Who outlined the four levels that must be addressed concerning the definition and determination of death?

A) Robert Veatch
B) Christiaan Barnard
C) Karen Gervais
D) Jurō Wada

Question 24

An irreversible process of deterioration in the body's systems and organs is

A) clinical decomposition.
B) cellular death.
C) electro-encephalographic death.
D) brain death.

Question 25

The Uniform Determination of Death Act was proposed by the

A) American Bar Association.
B) President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine.
C) Harvard Medical School Ad Hoc Committee to Examine Brain Death.
D) American Medical Association.

Question 26

Which of the following are included in Veatch's four approaches to defining and determining death?
1) Irreversible loss of flow of vital fluids
2) Irreversible loss of the soul from the body
3) Irreversible loss of communication with a higher spirit
4) Irreversible loss of the capacity for bodily integration

A) 1, 2, and 3
B) 1, 2, and 4
C) 2, 3, and 4
D) 1, 3, and 4

Question 27

The most important factor in determining if someone is a suitable candidate for an organ transplant is

A) emotional stability.
B) he or she has a reasonable likelihood of recovery with a transplant.
C) he or she has an ability to deal with stress.
D) age.

Question 28

What date was the National Organ Transplant Act Enacted and by whom?

A) 2008 by registered medical ethicists appointed by the president of the United States
B) 1991 by the Surgeon General
C) 1989 by UNOS and OPTN
D) 1984 by the U.S. Congress

Question 29

All of the following are methods of determining clinical death EXCEPT

A) cessation of heartbeat.
B) cessation of breathing.
C) decomposition of the body's cells.
D) establishing brain death.

Question 30

Organ donors are declared dead by the criteria of

A) cardiac or brain death rules.
B) presumed consent rules.
C) directed donation rules.
D) organ transplant center rules.

Question 31

The coffin bell-pull device was invented to

A) warn the community about impending disasters.
B) prevent premature burial.
C) hasten death from plagues.
D) assist undertakers during burial.

Question 32

Under the provisions of the National Organ Transplantation Act, it is currently illegal to buy or sell human organs and tissues except

A) eyes.
B) bone marrow.
C) hair.
D) blood.

Question 33

Historically, death has been ascertained by the absence of

A) heartbeat and breathing.
B) consciousness.
C) brain waves.
D) heartbeat and brain waves.

Question 34

According to the Uniform Determination of Death Act, an individual is dead when he/she has irreversible
1) cessation of the capacity for bodily integration.
2) circulatory and respiratory cessation.
3) absence of functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem.
4) cessation of the capacity for consciousness.

A) 1 and 2
B) 1 and 3
C) 2 and 3
D) 2 and 4

Question 35

Until quite recently, the style used by physicians in Japan for giving information to their patients was called?

A) "Open door"
B) "Closed door"
C) "Free-will"
D) "Need-to-know"

Question 36

The Uniform Anatomical Gift Act was revised in what year to simplify organ donation?

A) 1968
B) 1984
C) 1998
D) 2006

Question 37

Where and when was the first 'breathing lung' transplant performed?

A) South Africa, 1967
B) United States, 2012
C) Japan, 2001
D) United Kingdom, 1989

Question 38

In the text, what are "ick" and "jinx" factors related to?

A) Organ donation
B) Autopsies
C) Japan's brain death debate
D) Cemeteries in your neighborhood

Question 39

In the approach to defining death based on irreversible loss of the soul from the body, what is commonly believed to be related to the soul?

A) Breath or heart
B) Feelings or emotions
C) Physical movement
D) Thought process

Question 40

Under what circumstances would the irreversible loss of flow of vital fluids approach to defining death be unclear?

A) When a patient has lost a lot of blood
B) When a patient's vital functions are artificially sustained by machines
C) When a patient has undergone an amputation
D) When a patient has a near-death experience

Question 41

State laws differ in how they distinguish categories of manslaughter.

Question 42

What does the debate in Japan regarding brain death and organ transplantation illustrate?

A) how culture influences attitudes and practices related to dying and death
B) the difficulty of getting a law passed
C) the confusion surrounding brain death and organ transplantation
D) how important the issue of defining death is

Question 43

What accounts for the reluctance to actively pursue organ transplantation in Japan?

A) Japanese physicians' practice "open door" medicine.
B) Japanese are concerned about keeping the body intact.
C) The criteria for brain death are applied too strictly.
D) Death is viewed as a medically determined phenomenon.

Question 44

Under the National Organ Transplant Act, it is legal to sell human organs if the recipient is in a terminal condition.

Question 45

The United Network for Organ Sharing is under contract with the federal government to maintain lists of people waiting for transplants.

Question 46

In 1976, the first successful heart transplant occurred in the United States.

Question 47

There is currently no shortage of organs for transplant.

Question 48

Involuntary manslaughter is a type of criminal homicide.

Question 49

Homicide is separated into two categories, criminal and noncriminal.

Question 50

Apart from certain crimes on which the Supreme Court has not ruled, the only capital crime in the United States is murder.

Question 51

MatchingDonors.com is a government certified website for organ transplantations.

Question 52

An autopsy may help resolve questions about malpractice.

Question 53

The first kidney transplant was from one identical twin to another in 1954.

Question 54

Many Japanese place greater symbolic importance on the heart over the brain.

Question 55

Death certificates aid in crime detection.