Thaddeus Mason Pope

Bioethics, Health Law, Patient Rights

Home

Video Intro

Biography

Summary

CV

Awards & Honors

Social Media

Fulbright Chair

Brocher Fdn

Photographs

Name Thaddeus

Other Bio

Contact

Expert Witness

Ethics Consult

Media

Media Appearances

Media Videos

Publications

Awards & Measures

by Date

Policy Statements

Right to Die Treatise

Series & Columns

by Topic

by Discipline

Research Agenda

Presentations

Upcoming Presentations

Past Presentations

Videos

Book Professor Pope

Disclosures

Service

Reg Comments

Public Policy

Academic Service

Editorships

Peer Review

Honors & Awards

University Service

Bar Service

Community Service

ASBH

Health Law Teaching

Research Papers

Externships

Reference Letters

My Own Teachers

Quality & Liability

Syllabi & Evaluations

Reading Packets & Slides

Exams & Feedback

Health Law Success

Career Guides

Writing Competitions

Moot Court Competitions

Health Law Institute

Learning Outcomes

Stay Current

Reference Materials

Torts Teaching

Syllabus & Evaluations

Torts PPT

Torts Exams

Decision Aids

PDA Articles

PDA Presentations

PDA Laws

PDA Reports

PDA Samples

Unwanted Treatment

Articles by Pope

Media Coverage

Court Cases

Regulatory Actions

Mandated Disclosures

Medical Futility

Futility Talks

Futility Blog

Futility Cases

Futility Statutes

Futility Policies

Archie Battersbee

Charlie Gard

Tinslee Lewis

Brain Death

Pope Articles BD

Pope Presentations BD

Pope Videos BD

Pope Consulting

Background

Statutes

Accommodation

Hospital Policies

Apnea Consent

Injunction Cases

Damages Cases

Misdiagnosis

Pregnancy

Organ Grab

Other Cases

Jahi McMath

Israel Stinson

Aden Hailu

Canadian Law

British Law

Surrogates

Pope Pubs

Bad Surrogates

Other

Unbefriended

Advance Directives

Pope Talks

ACP Videos

Advance Care Planning

Advance Directives 1

Forged Advance Directives

Organ D&T

VSED

Pope Publications

Pope Presentations

VSED Book

Guidance & Policies

Medical Literature

Family Stories

Legal - VSED

Legal - SED by AD

VSED Directives

MAID

Pope Articles

Pope Presentation

California

EOLO Statutes

Challenges to Prohibition

Attacks on Statutes

IVAE

CBO

HEC - CEC

Minnesota Law

Personal

Outdoor Life

Quotations

Art & Movies

Jerry Jazz

File Exchange

 
Brain Death Resources
On the following twenty pages I collect materials relating to brain death laws and conflicts:
  1. Professsor Pope Articles
  2. Professor Pope Presentations
  3. Professor Pope Videos
  4. Professor Pope Consulting
  5. Background
  6. Statutes
  7. Accommodation
  8. Hospital Policies
  9. Consent for Testing
  10. Injunction Cases
  11. Damages Cases
  12. Pregnancy Cases
  13. Misdiagnosis Cases
  14. Organ Grab Cases
  15. Other Cases
  16. Jahi McMath
  17. Israel Stinson
  18. Aden Hailu
  19. Canadian Law
  20. British Law

Introduction to Brain Death
The determination of death by neurological criteria - “brain death” - has long been legally established as death in all U.S. jurisdictions. Moreover, the consequences of determining brain death have been clear. Except for organ donation and in a few rare and narrow cases (such as pregnancy in some states), clinicians withdraw physiological support shortly after determining brain death. Until recently, there has been almost zero action in U.S. legislatures, courts, or agencies either to eliminate or to change the legal status of brain death. Despite ongoing academic debates, the law concerning brain death has remained stable for decades.

However, since the Jahi McMath case in 2013, this legal certainty has been increasingly challenged. The persistent salience of this case has spurred other families to challenge other clinicians. Many of these cases have been litigated in the spotlight of judicial and media scrutiny, further exposing long‐standing yet little‐known fractures in brain death's biological and conceptual foundations. Admittedly, some families have always had concerns with brain death, whether emotional, biological, or psychological. What has changed over the past nine years is that more families have been emboldened to translate their concerns into legal claims and legislative reform.