Robert M. Veatch, Abandon the Dead Donor Rule or Change the Definition of Death?

• Author: Veatch, Robert M.
• Position: Abstracts

Robert M. Veatch, Abandon the Dead Donor Rule or Change the Definition of Death? 14 KENNEDY INST. ETHICS J. 261 (2004).

Research by Siminoff and colleagues reveals that many lay people in Ohio classify legally living persons in irreversible coma or persistent vegetative state (PVS) as dead and that additional respondents, although classifying such patients as living, would be willing to procure organs from them. The author analyzes possible implications of these findings for public policy A majority of respondents would procure organs from those in irreversible coma or in PVS. Two strategies for legitimizing such procurement are suggested. One strategy would be to make exceptions to the dead donor rule permitting procurement from those in PVS or at least those who are in irreversible coma while continuing to classify them as living. Another strategy would be to further amend the definition of death to classify one or both groups as deceased, thus permitting procurement without violation of the dead donor rule.

Permitting exceptions to the dead donor rule would require substantial changes in...