Must Hypothalamic Neurosecretory Function Cease for Brain Death Determination? Yes
Michael Nair‐Collins
Abstract
The Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA) states that “an individual who has sustained … irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brainstem, is dead.”1 Therefore, an individual with preservation of any function of any part of the brain is not dead under the UDDA. There is no argument, and no evidence, that can escape this conclusion. To deny it is to deny logic itself.
Topics & Concepts
BrainstemBrain functionArgument (complex analysis)Brain deadNeuroscienceFunction (biology)PsychologyPhilosophyMedicineBiologyInternal medicineCell biologyTransplantationOrgan Donation and TransplantationGrief, Bereavement, and Mental HealthCerebrospinal fluid and hydrocephalus