This page collects materials on the new challenges to the traditional rules concerning brain death in Canada. I will also collect materials on the background law.
Statutory & Case Background
I will build this section to include primary legal authority on brain death - statutes and appellate cases. Interestingly, Ontario does not include any physiological standards in a statute (like Nova Scotia and Manitoba) but completely delegates the determination of death to the medical profession.
In late 2017, the families of two patients declared brain dead filed lawsuits forcing clinicians to continue organ support for these patients. The Taquisha McKitty case challenges whether she is actually dead. It also argues for a religious exemption to brain death. The Shalom Ouanounou case does not challenge that he is dead but seeks a religious exemption.