密歇根新闻广播 对于脑死亡的诊断

 

How do you diagnose death?

For the last several decades, doctors have used brain death, defined as the complete and irreversible absence of all brain function, to determine when someone is legally dead. But in two recent cases in Michigan, both involving children, families have pushed back on doctors' diagnoses of brain death.

Last month, a Michigan judge rejected a family's request to force the University of Michigan hospital to keep their 14-year-old son on life support after he was declared brain dead. A similar civil suit is playing out in an Oakland County court in regards to the fate of 16-year-old Titus Cromer.

Thaddeus Mason Pope is an expert on medical law and clinical ethics¹. He directs the Health Law Institute at Mitchell Hamline School of Law in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

“Brain death has been recognized in the law since the 1980’s, and the medical professions have developed clinical criteria² for measuring and assessing brain death,” he explained.

However, in the past five years, Pope said, more and more families have been pushing back on whether brain death means their loved ones are actually gone. Pope said in the ongoing³ case involving 16-year-old Titus Cromer, the family is “contesting the very legitimacy⁴ of brain death in the state of Michigan.”

There's a gap, Pope said, between how state law defines brain death, and how doctors do. Michigan law states that a person who is "brain dead" is an individual “who has sustained either irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions or irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem.” That phrase—"all functions of the entire brain"—is important because hormonal⁵ functions like the pituitary gland⁶ and the hypothalamus are excluded from the tests doctor use to determine brain death.

“The medical community has basically conceded that they don’t measure the cessation of all functions of the entire brain. They measure the cessation of most of the functions they think are significant,” he said. “So there is a gap between what the medical profession is doing on one hand, and what the law requires on the other hand.”

According to Pope, lawsuits⁷ contesting diagnoses of brain death have been increasing across the country. Pope said they have had mixed success. The future of cases like this is unclear, and there isn’t an easy pathway to clarity.

“We recognize there’s gaps. We recognize there’s variability in how these issues are treated from state to state. And so I don’t think there is a clear vision yet because it’s really only in the past few years that these issues have really become apparent and recognized.”

1 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

2 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

3 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

4 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

5 hormonal   

adj.激素的

参考例句：

• Some viral diseases are more severe during pregnancy, probably tecause of hormonal changes. 有些病毒病在妊娠期间比较严重，可能是由于激素变化引起的。
• She underwent surgical intervention and a subsequent short period of hormonal therapy. 他接受外科手术及随后短暂荷尔蒙治疗。

6 gland   

n.腺体，(机)密封压盖，填料盖

参考例句：

• This is a snake's poison gland.这就是蛇的毒腺。
• Her mother has an underactive adrenal gland.她的母亲肾上腺机能不全。

7 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句