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 Pringl Miller, Preeti John, and Sabha Ganai join Ethics Talk to discuss their article: “How Should Surgical Palliative Success Be Defined?”

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?"

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

This article considers relevant history that informs the AMA Code of Medical Ethics' opinions about neurological criteria for death.

Since 1995, the American Academy of Neurology has provided guidelines for brain death determination, but nationwide adherence to these guidelines has been incomplete.

Lobbying, maintaining diagnostic skill, participating in national societies, and contributing to robust discourse can influence practice and policy.

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

Death’s legal definition must be responsive to advances in technology, and it must delineate between life and death. Knowing where to draw the line is difficult.

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.