Deck 1: Defining Death

Question 1

Which of the following developments led the Commission to investigate the possibility of a new medical standard for declaring death?

A) the increased use of artificial means to sustain respiration and circulation
B) the desire to encourage organ donation
C) the growing economic costs of medical care near the end of life
D) the increase in human lifespans in the twentieth century

Answer 1

the increased use of artificial means to sustain respiration and circulation

Question 2

The traditional heart-lung standard for death states that a person is dead if

A) their respiration has irreversibly ceased
B) their circulation has irreversibly ceased
C) (a) or (b)
D) (a) and (b)

Answer 2

(a) and (b)

Question 3

The model legislation proposed by the Commission states that an individual has died when

A) their circulatory and respiratory functions have irreversibly ceased
B) the functions of their entire brain, including the brain stem, have irreversibly ceased
C) (a) and (b)
D) (a) or (b)

Answer 3

(a) or (b)

Question 4

The 'whole brain' standard for determining death implies that a person may be declared dead when respiration and circulation are maintained by artificial means.

Question 5

The "higher brain" standard states that a person is dead

A) when the brain fails to integrate the various functions of the body
B) when her psychological capacities, including her consciousness, have been irreversibly lost
C) when the brain's cells have all died
D) when the body's tissues begin to decay

Question 6

What are the two main grounds the Commission cites in favor of its "whole brain" standard for death? In what ways, according to the Commission, is the brain more "central" to life than other bodily organs or functions? Is the Commission's case for the "whole brain" standard convincing? Why or why not?

Question 7

One consequence of the "higher brain" standard is that those in persistent vegetative states (such as Karen Quinlan) are "just as dead as a corpse." Is that a compelling reason to reject the higher brain standard? In what sense, if any, are those in persistent vegetative states living persons?