Robert Ledbetter and Dr Buddy Marterre join Ethics Talk to discuss their article: “Where’s the Value in Preoperative Covenants Between Surgeons and Patients?”

Drs Michael Young, Robert Regenhardt, and Leonard Sokol join Ethics Talk to discuss their article, coauthored with Dr Thabele Leslie-Mazwi: "When Should Neuroendovascular Care for Patients With Acute Stroke Be Palliative?"

Two commentaries respond to a case about apnea testing to confirm death by neurologic criteria.

Lack of ethical, legal, and clinical consensus about best practice sometimes combines with a poor clinical evidence base.

For many physicians, lack of understanding about brain death leads to confusion and muddles interactions with patients’ loved ones at the end of life.

The DDR requires organ donors to be dead according to legal criteria prior to organ removal, and it’s rooted in fears of civil and criminal liability.

Criteria in statutes and tests used to diagnose brain death don’t always jibe, and this can undermine public trust in death pronouncements.