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Madison Catholic Herald Archive (2001-2025)

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  • brain death

Tag: brain death

  • Letters to the editor
On November 19, 2014
Donna Larkosh

Wide variation in ‘brain death’ criteria in U.S.

To the editor:

Most of us are aware that there is a dichotomy of thought in our world concerning what determines the beginning of life. But is there an awareness that there is also a dichotomy of thought in the determination of what ends life?

Did you know that the use of neurological criteria to declare “brain death” was motivated by the desire to harvest the beating heart and other vital organs for transplantation and to remove life support from patients to keep from overcrowding intensive care units of hospitals?

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  • Making Sense of Bioethics
On June 23, 2011May 20, 2021
Fr. Tad Pacholczyk

Does Church have doubts about brain death?

Making Sense out of Bioethics column by Fr. Tad Pacholczyk

The Catholic Church has long acknowledged the role of the medical professional in declaring death. It is the proper competency of medicine, not theology, to identify reliable signs that death has occurred.

The hardening of the body known as rigor mortis, for example, is a reliable medical indicator that death has occurred. When the heart permanently stops beating and the lungs permanently stop functioning (cessation of cardio-pulmonary function), medical professionals recognize these signs as another reliable way to assess that death has occurred.

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