Health Care News Podcast

Starting July 21, the Uniform Law Commission (ULC) will be meeting to consider two options that would expand the legal definition of death.  The first option is what currently exists in the Uniform Determination of Death Act and includes loss of total brain function, not just the brain stem. Dr. Heidi Klessig, a retired anesthesiologist and authority on clinical death, explains what the options are and how families and patients can best prepare themselves. The American Academy of Neurology has petitioned the ULC to revise the legal definition of death. Option one uses the word “irreversible,” and Option 2 uses the word “permanent.” Klessig says Option 2 will give hospitals and doctors huge discretion in whether to give or continue life-sustaining treatment. Klessig will discuss cases of patients, such as Zack Dunlap, who survived sustained unresponsiveness and went on to describe their level of consciousness during that time.   Canada has now adopted provisions similar to “Option 2.” Two factors may be drivin