Legal definition of death, in most states, requires "irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem."
The Uniform Determination of Death Act
The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws in 1980 formulated the Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA). It states that: "An individual who has sustained either
- (1) irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions, or
- (2) irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem is dead.
A determination of death must be made in accordance with accepted medical standards."
This definition was approved by the American Medical Association in 1980 and by the American Bar Association in 1981. Today all fifty states and the District of Columbia follow the UDDA as a legal standard of death.
Sources:
President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research, Defining Death: A Report on the Medical, Legal and Ethical Issues in the Determination of Death (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1981), p. 73.
Uniform Determination of Death Act. 12 Uniform Laws Annotated 320 (1990 Supp).
DeGrazia D. 1998. Biology, Consciousness, and the Definition of Death. Report from Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy. http://www.publicpolicy.umd.edu/IPPP/winter98/biology_consciousness.htm
