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The Definition of Death Unresolved Controversies

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Pediatric Brain Death and Organ/Tissue Retrieval

Abstract

During the 1970s, as states rapidly adopted brain criteria for pronouncing death, many believed that the definition of death debate would soon be over. A few romantics would hold onto the heart as the critical organ for considering a person alive, but they would be overpowered by more reasonable people oriented to the brain as the locus for determining whether a person was dead. Eventually those committed to the respiratory and circulatory function would die off, and a widespread consensus would dominate public policy.

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© 1989 Plenum Publishing Corporation

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Veatch, R.M. (1989). The Definition of Death Unresolved Controversies . In: Kaufman, H.H. (eds) Pediatric Brain Death and Organ/Tissue Retrieval. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-5532-8_22

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-5532-8_22

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-5534-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-5532-8

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