Since 1995, the American Academy of Neurology has provided guidelines for brain death determination, but nationwide adherence to these guidelines has been incomplete.
AMA J Ethics. 2020; 22(12):E1027-1032. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2020.1027.
Dr Ariane Lewis discusses how we can navigate uncertainty and ambiguity about brain death by understanding clinical criteria for brain death determination and how our approaches to death are culturally and socially situated.
Countering the prevailing thought that more medical testing and treatment is always better can be achieved by creating a forum for open discussion of costs and value to prevent patient harm from overuse.
AMA J Ethics. 2015; 17(11):1079-1081. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.11.mnar1-1511.