Most people have no idea how much variety there is in "brain death" standards, or how organ transplant income and surgical reputation can play into supposedly "objective" decisions about end of life care.
With all due respect, I’d like to suggest that almost every bioethicist weighing in on this story hasadded to the ignorance and confusion surrounding brain death.
There’s a lot the public should know in order for us all to have an informed and rational discussion about brain death and how to talk about it. In 2012, I wrote an op-ed with NDY President and CEO Diane Coleman that was published in the Wall Street Journal. We described one major problem with the statutes regulating brain death:
...There have also been repeated claims that there is “no recovery from brain death,” which evades the reality of those individuals who have been determined to be brain dead and “miraculously” recovered.
In 2008, there was the “miraculous” story of Zack Dunlap, who showed signs of movement shortly after being declared brain dead and being readied for organ harvesting. His recovery at the time was hailed as a miracle – and the hospital staff that made the declaration didn’t seem to inclined to argue. Here was my take at the time: