Question

Scenario: A 27 year old woman is at your facility giving birth. She is being induced early because her blood pressure is sky-high (pre-eclampsia) and the only way to reverse the event is immediate delivery. The delivery goes fine, but 12 hours later the patient suffers a severe brain hemorrhage from the hypertension. Two independent neurosurgeons examined the patient and performed all the required tests and declare her brain dead. The neurosurgeons want to terminate all efforts and disconnect the ventilator. The husband is furious and demands she be kept on "life support". DQ2: Research your State’s definition of brain death. Briefly describe and note the State of origin. Based on your research, take a stand for either the hospital or the husband. Defend your stand based on research and provide at least one APA reference.

Cite your sources

Answer 1

The irreversible stoppage of the functioning of body’s vital systems such as cardiovascular system, respiratory system, and the brain is considered as death. In the United States and several other states, brain death is considered as death both legally and clinically. The doctors are obligated to provide respiration only under court order or if the patient is an organ donor (ventilation can be provided until the procedure is completed). Also, in case of brain-dead patients, the relatives are not responsible for making decisions about the patient, unless it is mentioned in the living will, and the medical team is responsible for taking an appropriate decision during such cases. So, in the given case, the neurosurgeons or the other medical staff are not obligated to provide the ventilation support to the brain-dead patient.

Reference: Greer, D. M., Wang, H. H., Robinson, J. D., Varelas, P. N., Henderson, G. V., & Wijdicks, E. F. (2016). Variability of brain death policies in the United States. JAMA neurology, 73(2), 213-218.