1
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Bernat JL, Khush KK, Shemie SD, Hartwig MG, Reese PP, Dalle Ave A, Parent B, Glazier AK, Capron AM, Craig M, Gofton T, Gordon EJ, Healey A, Homan ME, Ladin K, Messer S, Murphy N, Nakagawa TA, Parker WF, Pentz RD, Rodríguez-Arias D, Schwartz B, Sulmasy DP, Truog RD, Wall AE, Wall SP, Wolpe PR, Fenton KN. Knowledge gaps in heart and lung donation after the circulatory determination of death: Report of a workshop of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. J Heart Lung Transplant 2024; 43:1021-1029. [PMID: 38432523 DOI: 10.1016/j.healun.2024.02.1455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2024] [Revised: 02/07/2024] [Accepted: 02/16/2024] [Indexed: 03/05/2024] Open
Abstract
In a workshop sponsored by the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, experts identified current knowledge gaps and research opportunities in the scientific, conceptual, and ethical understanding of organ donation after the circulatory determination of death and its technologies. To minimize organ injury from warm ischemia and produce better recipient outcomes, innovative techniques to perfuse and oxygenate organs postmortem in situ, such as thoracoabdominal normothermic regional perfusion, are being implemented in several medical centers in the US and elsewhere. These technologies have improved organ outcomes but have raised ethical and legal questions. Re-establishing donor circulation postmortem can be viewed as invalidating the condition of permanent cessation of circulation on which the earlier death determination was made and clamping arch vessels to exclude brain circulation can be viewed as inducing brain death. Alternatively, TA-NRP can be viewed as localized in-situ organ perfusion, not whole-body resuscitation, that does not invalidate death determination. Further scientific, conceptual, and ethical studies, such as those identified in this workshop, can inform and help resolve controversies raised by this practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- James L Bernat
- Department of Neurology, Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, New Hampshire.
| | - Kiran K Khush
- Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California
| | - Sam D Shemie
- Division of Critical Care Medicine, Montreal Children's Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, PQ, Canada
| | - Matthew G Hartwig
- Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Duke University Health System, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Peter P Reese
- Center for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Anne Dalle Ave
- Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia
| | - Brendan Parent
- Division of Medical Ethics and Department of Surgery, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York
| | - Alexandra K Glazier
- Brown University, School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island; New England Donor Services, Waltham, Massachusetts
| | - Alexander M Capron
- Gould School of Law and Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
| | - Matt Craig
- Lung Biology and Disease Branch, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Teneille Gofton
- Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Elisa J Gordon
- Department of Surgery, Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee
| | - Andrew Healey
- Department of Medicine McMaster University and William Osler Health System, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | | | - Keren Ladin
- Research on Ethics, Aging, and Community Health (REACH Lab); Departments of Occupational Therapy and Community Health, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts
| | - Simon Messer
- Department of Transplant, Golden Jubilee National Hospital, Clydebank, Scotland UK
| | - Nick Murphy
- Departments of Medicine and Philosophy, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Thomas A Nakagawa
- University of Florida College of Medicine-Jacksonville, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, Jacksonville, Florida
| | - William F Parker
- Department of Medicine and Public Health Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
| | - Rebecca D Pentz
- Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
| | | | - Bryanna Schwartz
- Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Bethesda, Maryland; Department of Cardiology, Children's National Medical Center, Washington, District of Columbia
| | - Daniel P Sulmasy
- The Kennedy Institute of Ethics and the Departments of Medicine and Philosophy, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia
| | - Robert D Truog
- Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital; Center for Bioethics, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Anji E Wall
- Department of Surgery, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, Texas
| | - Stephen P Wall
- Ronald O. Perelman Department of Emergency Medicine; NYU Grossman School of Medicine and Department of Population Health, NYU, New York, New York
| | - Paul R Wolpe
- Center for Ethics, Department of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Kathleen N Fenton
- Advanced Technologies and Surgery Branch, Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and Department of Bioethics, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
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2
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Omelianchuk A, Capron AM, Ross LF, Derse AR, Bernat JL, Magnus D. Neither Ethical nor Prudent: Why Not to Choose Normothermic Regional Perfusion. Hastings Cent Rep 2024. [PMID: 38768312 DOI: 10.1002/hast.1584] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2024]
Abstract
In transplant medicine, the use of normothermic regional perfusion (NRP) in donation after circulatory determination of death raises ethical difficulties. NRP is objectionable because it restores the donor's circulation, thus invalidating a death declaration based on the permanent cessation of circulation. NRP's defenders respond with arguments that are tortuous and factually inaccurate and depend on introducing extraneous concepts into the law. However, results comparable to NRP's-more and higher-quality organs and more efficient allocation-can be achieved by removing organs from deceased donors and using normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) to support the organs outside the body, without jeopardizing confidence in transplantation's legal and ethical foundations. Given the controversy that NRP generates and the convoluted justifications made for it, we recommend a prudential approach we call "ethical parsimony," which holds that, in the choice between competing means of achieving a result, the ethically simpler one is to be preferred. This approach makes clear that policy-makers should favor NMP over NRP.
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Gambardella I, Nappi F, Worku B, Tranbaugh RF, Ibrahim AM, Balaram SK, Bernat JL. Taking the pulse of brain death: A meta-analysis of the natural history of brain death with somatic support. Eur J Neurol 2024; 31:e16243. [PMID: 38375732 DOI: 10.1111/ene.16243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2023] [Revised: 10/02/2023] [Accepted: 01/30/2024] [Indexed: 02/21/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The conceptualization of brain death (BD) was pivotal in the shaping of judicial and medical practices. Nonetheless, media reports of alleged recovery from BD reinforced the criticism that this construct is a self-fulfilling prophecy (by treatment withdrawal or organ donation). We meta-analyzed the natural history of BD when somatic support (SS) is maintained. METHODS Publications on BD were eligible if the following were reported: aggregated data on its natural history with SS; and patient-level data that allowed censoring at the time of treatment withdrawal or organ donation. Endpoints were as follows: rate of somatic expiration after BD with SS; BD misdiagnosis, including "functionally brain-dead" patients (FBD; i.e. after the pronouncement of brain-death, ≥1 findings were incongruent with guidelines for its diagnosis, albeit the lethal prognosis was not altered); and length and predictors of somatic survival. RESULTS Forty-seven articles were selected (1610 patients, years: 1969-2021). In BD patients with SS, median age was 32.9 years (range = newborn-85 years). Somatic expiration followed BD in 99.9% (95% confidence interval = 89.8-100). Mean somatic survival was 8.0 days (range = 1.6 h-19.5 years). Only age at BD diagnosis was an independent predictor of somatic survival length (coefficient = -11.8, SE = 4, p < 0.01). Nine BD misdiagnoses were detected; eight were FBD, and one newborn fully recovered. No patient ever recovered from chronic BD (≥1 week somatic survival). CONCLUSIONS BD diagnosis is reliable. Diagnostic criteria should be fine-tuned to avoid the small incidence of misdiagnosis, which nonetheless does not alter the prognosis of FBD patients. Age at BD diagnosis is inversely proportional to somatic survival.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Francesco Nappi
- Cardiac Surgery Center, Cardiologique du Nord de Saint-Denis, Paris, France
| | - Berhane Worku
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - Robert F Tranbaugh
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - Aminat M Ibrahim
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
| | - Sandhya K Balaram
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - James L Bernat
- Department of Neurology, Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, New York, USA
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Murphy NB, Shemie SD, Capron A, Truog RD, Nakagawa T, Healey A, Gofton T, Bernat JL, Fenton K, Khush KK, Schwartz B, Wall SP. Advancing the Scientific Basis for Determining Death in Controlled Organ Donation After Circulatory Determination of Death. Transplantation 2024:00007890-990000000-00733. [PMID: 38637919 DOI: 10.1097/tp.0000000000005002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/20/2024]
Abstract
In controlled organ donation after circulatory determination of death (cDCDD), accurate and timely death determination is critical, yet knowledge gaps persist. Further research to improve the science of defining and determining death by circulatory criteria is therefore warranted. In a workshop sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, experts identified research opportunities pertaining to scientific, conceptual, and ethical understandings of DCDD and associated technologies. This article identifies a research strategy to inform the biomedical definition of death, the criteria for its determination, and circulatory death determination in cDCDD. Highlighting knowledge gaps, we propose that further research is needed to inform the observation period following cessation of circulation in pediatric and neonatal populations, the temporal relationship between the cessation of brain and circulatory function after the withdrawal of life-sustaining measures in all patient populations, and the minimal pulse pressures that sustain brain blood flow, perfusion, activity, and function. Additionally, accurate predictive tools to estimate time to asystole following the withdrawal of treatment and alternative monitoring modalities to establish the cessation of circulatory, brainstem, and brain function are needed. The physiologic and conceptual implications of postmortem interventions that resume circulation in cDCDD donors likewise demand attention to inform organ recovery practices. Finally, because jurisdictionally variable definitions of death and the criteria for its determination may impede collaborative research efforts, further work is required to achieve consensus on the physiologic and conceptual rationale for defining and determining death after circulatory arrest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas B Murphy
- Departments of Medicine and Philosophy, Western University, London, ON, Canada
| | - Sam D Shemie
- Division of Critical Care Medicine, Montreal Children's Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- System Development, Canadian Blood Services, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Alex Capron
- Gould School of Law and Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
| | - Robert D Truog
- Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA
- Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Thomas Nakagawa
- Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida College of Medicine-Jacksonville, Jacksonville, FL
| | - Andrew Healey
- Ontario Health (Trillium Gift of Life Network), Toronto, ON, Canada
- Divisions of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
| | - Teneille Gofton
- Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, ON, Canada
| | - James L Bernat
- Department of Neurology, Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, NH
| | - Kathleen Fenton
- Advanced Technologies and Surgery Branch, Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Department of Bioethics, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
| | - Kiran K Khush
- Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
| | - Bryanna Schwartz
- Heart Development and Structural Diseases Branch, Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
- Division of Cardiology, Children's National Hospital, Washington, DC
| | - Stephen P Wall
- Ronald O. Perelman Department of Emergency Medicine, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY
- Department of Population Health, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY
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5
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Bernat JL. The Uniform Law Commission and the Conceptual Basis for Brain Death: The UDDA Revision Series. Neurology 2024; 102:e209157. [PMID: 38408292 DOI: 10.1212/wnl.0000000000209157] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/28/2024] Open
Affiliation(s)
- James L Bernat
- From the Neurology Department, Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, NH
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6
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Khush KK, Bernat JL, Pierson RN, Silverman HJ, Parent B, Glazier AK, Adams AB, Fishman JA, Gusmano M, Hawthorne WJ, Homan ME, Hurst DJ, Latham S, Park CG, Maschke KJ, Mohiuddin MM, Montgomery RA, Odim J, Pentz RD, Reichart B, Savulescu J, Wolpe PR, Wong RP, Fenton KN. Research opportunities and ethical considerations for heart and lung xenotransplantation research: A report from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute workshop. Am J Transplant 2024:S1600-6135(24)00211-9. [PMID: 38514013 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajt.2024.03.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2024] [Accepted: 03/10/2024] [Indexed: 03/23/2024]
Abstract
Xenotransplantation offers the potential to meet the critical need for heart and lung transplantation presently constrained by the current human donor organ supply. Much was learned over the past decades regarding gene editing to prevent the immune activation and inflammation that cause early organ injury, and strategies for maintenance of immunosuppression to promote longer-term xenograft survival. However, many scientific questions remain regarding further requirements for genetic modification of donor organs, appropriate contexts for xenotransplantation research (including nonhuman primates, recently deceased humans, and living human recipients), and risk of xenozoonotic disease transmission. Related ethical questions include the appropriate selection of clinical trial participants, challenges with obtaining informed consent, animal rights and welfare considerations, and cost. Research involving recently deceased humans has also emerged as a potentially novel way to understand how xeno-organs will impact the human body. Clinical xenotransplantation and research involving decedents also raise ethical questions and will require consensus regarding regulatory oversight and protocol review. These considerations and the related opportunities for xenotransplantation research were discussed in a workshop sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and are summarized in this meeting report.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kiran K Khush
- Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
| | - James L Bernat
- Department of Neurology, Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
| | - Richard N Pierson
- Department of Surgery and Center for Transplantation Sciences, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Henry J Silverman
- Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Brendan Parent
- Department of Population Health, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - Alexandra K Glazier
- New England Donor Services, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA; School of Public Health, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
| | - Andrew B Adams
- Department of Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Jay A Fishman
- Transplant Infectious Disease and MGH Transplant Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Michael Gusmano
- College of Health, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Wayne J Hawthorne
- Department of Surgery, Westmead Hospital, University of Sydney, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Mary E Homan
- Department of Theology and Ethics, CommonSpirit Health, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Daniel J Hurst
- Department of Family Medicine, Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine, Stratford, New Jersey, USA
| | - Stephen Latham
- Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Chung-Gyu Park
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
| | | | - Muhammad M Mohiuddin
- Department of Surgery, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Robert A Montgomery
- NYU Langone Transplant Institute, NYU Langone Health, New York, New York, USA
| | - Jonah Odim
- Transplantation Branch, Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Transplantation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Rebecca D Pentz
- Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Bruno Reichart
- Department of Cardiac Surgery, Ludwig-Maximillian University, Munich, Germany
| | - Julian Savulescu
- Centre for Biomedical Ethics, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Paul Root Wolpe
- Center for Ethics and Department of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Renee P Wong
- Heart Failure and Arrhythmias Branch, Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Kathleen N Fenton
- Advanced Technologies and Surgery Branch, Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and Department of Bioethics, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
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Bernat JL. Author Response: Challenges to Brain Death in Revising the Uniform Determination of Death Act: The UDDA Revision Series. Neurology 2024; 102:e208045. [PMID: 38165387 PMCID: PMC10834116 DOI: 10.1212/wnl.0000000000208045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2024] Open
Abstract
I thank Dr. Machado for his comments about my article summarizing the recent work of the US Uniform Law Commission to revise the Uniform Determination of Death Act.1.
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Robbins NM, Bernat JL. Ethical issues of nosology in disorders of consciousness. NeuroRehabilitation 2024; 54:3-9. [PMID: 38277312 DOI: 10.3233/nre-230120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2024]
Abstract
The current classification scheme for severe disorders of consciousness (DoC) has several shortcomings. First, there is no consensus on how to incorporate patients with covert consciousness. Second, there is a mismatch between the definitions of severe DoC, based on consciousness, and the diagnosis of these same DoC, which is based on observable motoric responsiveness. Third, current categories are grouped into large heterogeneous syndromes which share phenotype, but do not incorporate underlying pathophysiology. Here we discuss several ethical issues pertaining to the current nosology of severe DoC. We conclude by proposing a revised nosology which addresses these shortcomings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathaniel M Robbins
- Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, USA
- Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH, USA
| | - James L Bernat
- Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, USA
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Molina-Pérez A, Bernat JL, Dalle Ave A. Inconsistency between the Circulatory and the Brain Criteria of Death in the Uniform Determination of Death Act. J Med Philos 2023; 48:422-433. [PMID: 37364165 PMCID: PMC10501178 DOI: 10.1093/jmp/jhad029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/28/2023] Open
Abstract
The Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA) provides 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." We show that the UDDA contains two conflicting interpretations of the phrase "cessation of functions." By one interpretation, what matters for the determination of death is the cessation of spontaneous functions only, regardless of their generation by artificial means. By the other, what matters is the cessation of both spontaneous and artificially supported functions. Because each UDDA criterion uses a different interpretation, the law is conceptually inconsistent. A single consistent interpretation would lead to the conclusion that conscious individuals whose respiratory and circulatory functions are artificially supported are actually dead, or that individuals whose brain is entirely and irreversibly destroyed may be alive. We explore solutions to mitigate the inconsistency.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - James L Bernat
- Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
| | - Anne Dalle Ave
- The Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University, Washington, USA
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11
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Bernat JL, Domínguez-Gil B, Glazier AK, Gardiner D, Manara AR, Shemie S, Porte RJ, Martin DE, Opdam H, McGee A, López Fraga M, Rayar M, Kerforne T, Bušić M, Romagnoli R, Zanierato M, Tullius SG, Miñambres E, Royo-Villanova M, Delmonico FL. Understanding the Brain-based Determination of Death When Organ Recovery Is Performed With DCDD In Situ Normothermic Regional Perfusion. Transplantation 2023; 107:1650-1654. [PMID: 37170405 DOI: 10.1097/tp.0000000000004642] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- James L Bernat
- Department of Neurology, Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, NH
| | | | - Alexandra K Glazier
- New England Donor Services, Waltham, MA. Health Services, Policy and Practice, Brown University, Providence, RI
| | - Dale Gardiner
- Medical Directorate, Deceased Organ Donation for NHS Blood and Transplant, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Alexander R Manara
- Intensive Care Medicine, The Intensive Care Unit, Southmead Hospital, North Bristol NHS Trust, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Sam Shemie
- Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, QB, Canada
| | - Robert J Porte
- Division of HPB and Transplant Surgery, Department of Surgery, Erasmus MC Transplant Institute, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Dominique E Martin
- Health Ethics and Professionalism School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia
| | - Helen Opdam
- Australian Organ and Tissue Authority, Austin Hospital, and Warringal Private Hospital Intensive Care Unit, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Andrew McGee
- Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Faculty of Law, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane City, QLD, Australia
| | - Marta López Fraga
- Quality of Medicines and Healthcare, Council of Europe, European Committee on Organ Transplantation (CD-P-TO), Strasbourg, France
| | - Michel Rayar
- Service de chirurgie Hépatobiliaire et Digestif CHU Pontchaillou, Rennes, France
| | - Thomas Kerforne
- Service d'Anesthésie-Réanimation et Médecine Périopératoire-CHU de Poitiers, Poitiers, France
| | - Mirela Bušić
- SoHO Standards Department of Biological Standardisation, OMCL Network and HealthCare (DBO) EDQM, Council of Europe, Strasbourg, France
| | - Renato Romagnoli
- General Surgery 2U - Liver Transplant Center, AOU Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Molinette Hospital, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Marinella Zanierato
- Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, AOU Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Molinette Hospital, Turin, Italy
| | - Stefan G Tullius
- Transplant Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Division of Transplant Surgery Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Eduardo Miñambres
- Donor Transplant Coordination Unit and Service of Intensive Care, Hospital Universitario Marqués de Valdecilla-IDIVAL, School of Medicine, Universidad de Cantabria, Santander, Spain
| | - Mario Royo-Villanova
- Donor Transplant Coordination Unit and Service of Intensive Care, Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Arrixaca, Murcia, Spain
| | - Francis L Delmonico
- New England Donor Services, Department of Surgery, Harvard Medical School at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
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12
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Bernat JL. Challenges to Brain Death in Revising the Uniform Determination of Death Act: The UDDA Revision Series. Neurology 2023; 101:30-37. [PMID: 37400259 DOI: 10.1212/wnl.0000000000207334] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2022] [Accepted: 03/07/2023] [Indexed: 07/05/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- James L Bernat
- From the Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, NH.
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Gardiner D, Greer DM, Bernat JL, Meade MO, Opdam H, Schwarz SKW. Answering global challenges to the determination of death: consensus-building leadership from Canada. Can J Anaesth 2023; 70:468-477. [PMID: 37131024 DOI: 10.1007/s12630-023-02423-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2023] [Revised: 01/30/2023] [Accepted: 01/30/2023] [Indexed: 05/04/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Dale Gardiner
- Adult Intensive Care Unit, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottingham, UK.
- NHS Blood and Transplant, Bristol, UK.
| | - David M Greer
- Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | - James L Bernat
- Department of Neurology, Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, NH, USA
| | - Maureen O Meade
- Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact (HEI), McMaster University Health Sciences Centre, Hamilton, ON, Canada
- Interdepartmental Division of Critical Care, Hamilton Health Sciences, Hamilton, ON, Canada
| | - Helen Opdam
- Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Austin Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- DonateLife, The Australian Organ and Tissue Authority, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Stephan K W Schwarz
- Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Department of Anesthesia, St. Paul's Hospital/Providence Health Care, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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Peled H, Mathews S, Rhodes D, Bernat JL. Normothermic Regional Perfusion Requires Careful Ethical Analysis Before Adoption Into Donation After Circulatory Determination of Death. Crit Care Med 2022; 50:1644-1648. [PMID: 36227032 DOI: 10.1097/ccm.0000000000005632] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Harry Peled
- Providence St Jude Medical Center, Fullerton, CA
| | | | - David Rhodes
- Providence St Jude Medical Center, Fullerton, CA
| | - James L Bernat
- Department of Neurology, Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, NH
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Robbins NM, Charleston L, Saadi A, Thayer Z, Codrington WU, Landry A, Bernat JL, Hamilton R. Black Patients Matter in Neurology: Race, Racism, and Race-Based Neurodisparities. Neurology 2022; 99:106-114. [PMID: 35851551 DOI: 10.1212/wnl.0000000000200830] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2022] [Accepted: 04/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Black people living in the United States suffer disproportionate morbidity and mortality across a wide range of neurologic conditions. Despite common conceptions to the contrary, "race" is a socially defined construct with little genetic validity. Therefore, racial health inequities in neurology ("neurodisparities") are not a consequence of biologic differences between races. Instead, racism and associated social determinants of health are the root of neurodisparities. To date, many neurologists have neglected racism as a root cause of neurologic disease, further perpetuating the problem. Structural racism, largely ignored in current neurologic practice and policy, drives neurodisparities through mediators such as excessive poverty, inferior health insurance, and poorer access to neurologic and preventative care. Interpersonal racism (implicit or explicit) and associated discriminatory practices in neurologic research, workforce advancement, and medical education also exacerbate neurodisparities. Neurologists cannot fulfill their professional and ethical responsibility to care for Black patients without understanding how racism, not biologic race, drives neurodisparities. In our review of race, racism, and race-based disparities in neurology, we highlight the current literature on neurodisparities across a wide range of neurologic conditions and focus on racism as the root cause. We discuss why all neurologists are ethically and professionally obligated to actively promote measures to counteract racism. We conclude with a call for actions that should be implemented by individual neurologists and professional neurologic organizations to mitigate racism and work towards health equity in neurology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathaniel M Robbins
- From the Department of Neurology (N.M.R., J.L.B.), Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, NH; Department of Neurology and Ophthalmology Michigan State University College of Human Medicine (L.C.), East Lansing, MI; Department of Neurology (A.S.), Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; Department of Anthropology (Z.T.), Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH; Brooklyn Law School (W.U.C.), Brooklyn, NY; Department of Emergency Medicine (A.L.), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; and Perelman School of Medicine (R.H.), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.
| | - Larry Charleston
- From the Department of Neurology (N.M.R., J.L.B.), Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, NH; Department of Neurology and Ophthalmology Michigan State University College of Human Medicine (L.C.), East Lansing, MI; Department of Neurology (A.S.), Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; Department of Anthropology (Z.T.), Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH; Brooklyn Law School (W.U.C.), Brooklyn, NY; Department of Emergency Medicine (A.L.), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; and Perelman School of Medicine (R.H.), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Altaf Saadi
- From the Department of Neurology (N.M.R., J.L.B.), Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, NH; Department of Neurology and Ophthalmology Michigan State University College of Human Medicine (L.C.), East Lansing, MI; Department of Neurology (A.S.), Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; Department of Anthropology (Z.T.), Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH; Brooklyn Law School (W.U.C.), Brooklyn, NY; Department of Emergency Medicine (A.L.), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; and Perelman School of Medicine (R.H.), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Zaneta Thayer
- From the Department of Neurology (N.M.R., J.L.B.), Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, NH; Department of Neurology and Ophthalmology Michigan State University College of Human Medicine (L.C.), East Lansing, MI; Department of Neurology (A.S.), Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; Department of Anthropology (Z.T.), Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH; Brooklyn Law School (W.U.C.), Brooklyn, NY; Department of Emergency Medicine (A.L.), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; and Perelman School of Medicine (R.H.), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Wilfred U Codrington
- From the Department of Neurology (N.M.R., J.L.B.), Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, NH; Department of Neurology and Ophthalmology Michigan State University College of Human Medicine (L.C.), East Lansing, MI; Department of Neurology (A.S.), Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; Department of Anthropology (Z.T.), Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH; Brooklyn Law School (W.U.C.), Brooklyn, NY; Department of Emergency Medicine (A.L.), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; and Perelman School of Medicine (R.H.), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Alden Landry
- From the Department of Neurology (N.M.R., J.L.B.), Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, NH; Department of Neurology and Ophthalmology Michigan State University College of Human Medicine (L.C.), East Lansing, MI; Department of Neurology (A.S.), Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; Department of Anthropology (Z.T.), Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH; Brooklyn Law School (W.U.C.), Brooklyn, NY; Department of Emergency Medicine (A.L.), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; and Perelman School of Medicine (R.H.), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
| | - James L Bernat
- From the Department of Neurology (N.M.R., J.L.B.), Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, NH; Department of Neurology and Ophthalmology Michigan State University College of Human Medicine (L.C.), East Lansing, MI; Department of Neurology (A.S.), Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; Department of Anthropology (Z.T.), Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH; Brooklyn Law School (W.U.C.), Brooklyn, NY; Department of Emergency Medicine (A.L.), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; and Perelman School of Medicine (R.H.), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Roy Hamilton
- From the Department of Neurology (N.M.R., J.L.B.), Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, NH; Department of Neurology and Ophthalmology Michigan State University College of Human Medicine (L.C.), East Lansing, MI; Department of Neurology (A.S.), Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; Department of Anthropology (Z.T.), Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH; Brooklyn Law School (W.U.C.), Brooklyn, NY; Department of Emergency Medicine (A.L.), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; and Perelman School of Medicine (R.H.), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
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18
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Peled H, Bernat JL. Why arch vessel ligation is unethical for thoracoabdominal normothermic regional perfusion. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2022; 164:e93. [PMID: 35624054 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtcvs.2022.04.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2022] [Revised: 04/04/2022] [Accepted: 04/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Harry Peled
- Department of Cardiology and Critical Care, Providence St Jude Medical Center, Fullerton, Calif
| | - James L Bernat
- Department of Neurology, Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, NH
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Abstract
Essential to responsible practice and progress in neurology and neuroscience research is robust engagement with associated ethical dimensions and challenges. By virtue of the privileged relationship between personhood and the brain, and the importance of properties of the nervous system to what for most makes life worth living, conditions that affect neurologic function introduce a growing host of novel ethical and philosophical issues. Rather than serving a reactionary role, it is important for neurologists to anticipate such issues and develop familiarity with ethical analysis to inform quality medical practice and to safeguard neuroscience research. The field of neuroethics is an emerging career path devoted to identifying and evaluating such issues with the aim of informing optimal clinical practice and responsible neuroscience research. This article describes the past, present, and future of neuroethics, informed by an interview with one of the field's key founders and luminaries, Dr. James Bernat, with specific focus on training and career opportunities for neurologists in training.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael J Young
- From the Department of Neurology (M.J.Y.), Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston; Department of Neurology (J.L.B.), Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH.
| | - James L Bernat
- From the Department of Neurology (M.J.Y.), Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston; Department of Neurology (J.L.B.), Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH
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Domínguez-Gil B, Ascher N, Capron AM, Gardiner D, Manara AR, Bernat JL, Miñambres E, Singh JM, Porte RJ, Markmann JF, Dhital K, Ledoux D, Fondevila C, Hosgood S, Van Raemdonck D, Keshavjee S, Dubois J, McGee A, Henderson GV, Glazier AK, Tullius SG, Shemie SD, Delmonico FL. Correction to: Expanding controlled donation after the circulatory determination of death: statement from an international collaborative. Intensive Care Med 2021; 47:1059-1060. [PMID: 34129053 DOI: 10.1007/s00134-021-06435-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Nancy Ascher
- Department of Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Alexander M Capron
- Scott H. Bice Chair in Healthcare Law, Policy and Ethics, Department of Medicine and Law, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Dale Gardiner
- Intensive Care Medicine, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottingham, UK
| | - Alexander R Manara
- Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine, The Intensive Care Unit, Southmead Hospital, North Bristol NHS Trust, Bristol, UK
| | - James L Bernat
- Department of Neurology and Medicine, Active Emeritus, Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, NH, USA
| | - Eduardo Miñambres
- Transplant Coordination Unit and Service of Intensive Care, University Hospital Marqués de Valdecilla-IDIVAL, School of Medicine, University of Cantabria, Santander, Spain
| | - Jeffrey M Singh
- University of Toronto, and Trillium Gift of Life Network, Toronto, Canada
| | - Robert J Porte
- Department of Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - James F Markmann
- Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kumud Dhital
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Sant Vincent'S Hospital, Sidney, Australia
| | - Didier Ledoux
- Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Constantino Fondevila
- General and Digestive Surgery, Hospital Clínic, IDIBAPS, CIBERehd, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Sarah Hosgood
- Department of Surgery, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Dirk Van Raemdonck
- University Hospitals Leuven and Catholic University Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Shaf Keshavjee
- Toronto General Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - James Dubois
- Bioethics Research Center, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Andrew McGee
- Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Faculty of Law, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane City, Australia
| | - Galen V Henderson
- Director of Neurocritical Care, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Stefan G Tullius
- Division of Transplant Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Sam D Shemie
- Pediatric Intensive Care, Montreal Children's Hospital, McGill University, Medical Advisor, Deceased Donation, Canadian Blood Services, Montreal, Canada
| | - Francis L Delmonico
- Chief Medical Officer, New England Donor Services, 60 1st Ave, Waltham, MA, 02451, USA. .,Department of Surgery, Harvard Medical School at Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
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Affiliation(s)
- James L Bernat
- Department of Neurology (JLB), Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH
| | - Michael P McQuillen
- Department of Neurology (JLB), Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH
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22
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Domínguez-Gil B, Ascher N, Capron AM, Gardiner D, Manara AR, Bernat JL, Miñambres E, Singh JM, Porte RJ, Markmann JF, Dhital K, Ledoux D, Fondevila C, Hosgood S, Van Raemdonck D, Keshavjee S, Dubois J, McGee A, Henderson GV, Glazier AK, Tullius SG, Shemie SD, Delmonico FL. Expanding controlled donation after the circulatory determination of death: statement from an international collaborative. Intensive Care Med 2021; 47:265-281. [PMID: 33635355 PMCID: PMC7907666 DOI: 10.1007/s00134-020-06341-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2020] [Accepted: 12/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
A decision to withdraw life-sustaining treatment (WLST) is derived by a conclusion that further treatment will not enable a patient to survive or will not produce a functional outcome with acceptable quality of life that the patient and the treating team regard as beneficial. Although many hospitalized patients die under such circumstances, controlled donation after the circulatory determination of death (cDCDD) programs have been developed only in a reduced number of countries. This International Collaborative Statement aims at expanding cDCDD in the world to help countries progress towards self-sufficiency in transplantation and offer more patients the opportunity of organ donation. The Statement addresses three fundamental aspects of the cDCDD pathway. First, it describes the process of determining a prognosis that justifies the WLST, a decision that should be prior to and independent of any consideration of organ donation and in which transplant professionals must not participate. Second, the Statement establishes the permanent cessation of circulation to the brain as the standard to determine death by circulatory criteria. Death may be declared after an elapsed observation period of 5 min without circulation to the brain, which confirms that the absence of circulation to the brain is permanent. Finally, the Statement highlights the value of perfusion repair for increasing the success of cDCDD organ transplantation. cDCDD protocols may utilize either in situ or ex situ perfusion consistent with the practice of each country. Methods to accomplish the in situ normothermic reperfusion of organs must preclude the restoration of brain perfusion to not invalidate the determination of death.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Nancy Ascher
- Department of Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Alexander M Capron
- Scott H. Bice Chair in Healthcare Law, Policy and Ethics, Department of Medicine and Law, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Dale Gardiner
- Intensive Care Medicine, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottingham, UK
| | - Alexander R Manara
- Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine, The Intensive Care Unit, Southmead Hospital, North Bristol NHS Trust, Bristol, UK
| | - James L Bernat
- Department of Neurology and Medicine, Active Emeritus, Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, NH, USA
| | - Eduardo Miñambres
- Transplant Coordination Unit and Service of Intensive Care, University Hospital Marqués de Valdecilla-IDIVAL, School of Medicine, University of Cantabria, Santander, Spain
| | - Jeffrey M Singh
- University of Toronto, and Trillium Gift of Life Network, Toronto, Canada
| | - Robert J Porte
- Department of Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - James F Markmann
- Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kumud Dhital
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Sant Vincent'S Hospital, Sidney, Australia
| | - Didier Ledoux
- Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Constantino Fondevila
- General and Digestive Surgery, Hospital Clínic, IDIBAPS, CIBERehd, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Sarah Hosgood
- Department of Surgery, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Dirk Van Raemdonck
- University Hospitals Leuven and Catholic University Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Shaf Keshavjee
- Toronto General Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - James Dubois
- Bioethics Research Center, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Andrew McGee
- Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Faculty of Law, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane City, Australia
| | - Galen V Henderson
- Director of Neurocritical Care, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Stefan G Tullius
- Division of Transplant Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Sam D Shemie
- Pediatric Intensive Care, Montreal Children's Hospital, McGill University, Medical Advisor, Deceased Donation, Canadian Blood Services, Montreal, Canada
| | - Francis L Delmonico
- Chief Medical Officer, New England Donor Services, 60 1st Ave, Waltham, MA, 02451, USA.
- Department of Surgery, Harvard Medical School at Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
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23
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Smith JE, Wahle C, Bernat JL, Robbins NM. Financial Conflicts of Interest of United States-Based Authors in Neurology Journals: Cross-Sectional Study Using the Open Payments Database. Neurology 2021; 96:e1913-e1920. [PMID: 33632804 DOI: 10.1212/wnl.0000000000011701] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2020] [Accepted: 01/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To detail the scope, nature, and disclosure of financial conflicts of interest (COI) between the pharmaceutical and medical device industries (Industry) and authors in high-impact clinical neurology journals. METHODS Using the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Open Payments Database (OPD), we retrieved information on payments from Industry to 2,000 authors from randomly selected 2016 articles in 5 journals. We categorized payments by type (research, general, and associated research/institutional), sponsoring entity, and year (from 2013 to 2016). Each author's self-disclosures were compared to OPD-listed Industry relationships to measure discordance. Payments were manually reviewed to identify those from manufacturers of products that were directly tested or discussed in the article. We also quantified the prevalence and value of these nondisclosed, relevant COI. RESULTS Two hundred authors from 158 articles had at least 1 OPD payment. Median/mean annual payments per author were $4,229/$19,586 (general); $1,702/$5,966 (research); and $67,512/$362,102 (associated research). Most neurologists received <$1,000/y (74.6%, 93.0%, and 79.5% for general, research, and associated research, respectively), but a sizeable minority (>10% of authors) received more than $10,000 per year, and several received over $1 million. Of 3,013 payments deemed directly relevant to the article, 50.9% were not self-disclosed by the authors, totaling $5,782,197 ($1,665,603 general; $25,532 research; $4,091,062 associated research). CONCLUSION Industry-related financial relationships are prevalent among United States-based physicians publishing in major neurology journals, and incomplete self-disclosure is common. As a profession, academic and other neurologists must work to establish firm rules to ensure and manage disclosure of financial COI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jade E Smith
- From Dartmouth College (J.E.S., C.W.) and Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine (J.L.B., N.M.R.), Hanover, NH
| | - Charlotte Wahle
- From Dartmouth College (J.E.S., C.W.) and Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine (J.L.B., N.M.R.), Hanover, NH
| | - James L Bernat
- From Dartmouth College (J.E.S., C.W.) and Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine (J.L.B., N.M.R.), Hanover, NH
| | - Nathaniel M Robbins
- From Dartmouth College (J.E.S., C.W.) and Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine (J.L.B., N.M.R.), Hanover, NH.
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Bernat JL, Lukovits TG. Ethical Issues in Stroke Management. Neurol Clin Pract 2021; 11:3-5. [PMID: 33970165 PMCID: PMC8101311 DOI: 10.1212/cpj.0000000000000925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- James L Bernat
- Department of Neurology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH
| | - Timothy G Lukovits
- Department of Neurology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH
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Abstract
Mismatch between whole-brain death criteria embedded in statutes and accepted tests physicians use to diagnose brain death have clinical and ethical implications that could undermine public trust in death pronouncements. We consider merits and drawbacks of 4 ways to address this problem.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathaniel M Robbins
- Assistant professor of neurology at the Dartmouth College Geisel School of Medicine in Hanover, New Hampshire
| | - James L Bernat
- Professor emeritus of neurology and medicine at the Dartmouth College Geisel School of Medicine in Hanover, New Hampshire
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26
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Shevell
- Departments of Pediatrics & Neurology/Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
| | - James L Bernat
- Departments of Neurology and Medicine, Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, New Hampshire
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Greer DM, Shemie SD, Lewis A, Torrance S, Varelas P, Goldenberg FD, Bernat JL, Souter M, Topcuoglu MA, Alexandrov AW, Baldisseri M, Bleck T, Citerio G, Dawson R, Hoppe A, Jacobe S, Manara A, Nakagawa TA, Pope TM, Silvester W, Thomson D, Al Rahma H, Badenes R, Baker AJ, Cerny V, Chang C, Chang TR, Gnedovskaya E, Han MK, Honeybul S, Jimenez E, Kuroda Y, Liu G, Mallick UK, Marquevich V, Mejia-Mantilla J, Piradov M, Quayyum S, Shrestha GS, Su YY, Timmons SD, Teitelbaum J, Videtta W, Zirpe K, Sung G. Determination of Brain Death/Death by Neurologic Criteria: The World Brain Death Project. JAMA 2020; 324:1078-1097. [PMID: 32761206 DOI: 10.1001/jama.2020.11586] [Citation(s) in RCA: 258] [Impact Index Per Article: 64.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
IMPORTANCE There are inconsistencies in concept, criteria, practice, and documentation of brain death/death by neurologic criteria (BD/DNC) both internationally and within countries. OBJECTIVE To formulate a consensus statement of recommendations on determination of BD/DNC based on review of the literature and expert opinion of a large multidisciplinary, international panel. PROCESS Relevant international professional societies were recruited to develop recommendations regarding determination of BD/DNC. Literature searches of the Cochrane, Embase, and MEDLINE databases included January 1, 1992, through April 2020 identified pertinent articles for review. Because of the lack of high-quality data from randomized clinical trials or large observational studies, recommendations were formulated based on consensus of contributors and medical societies that represented relevant disciplines, including critical care, neurology, and neurosurgery. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS Based on review of the literature and consensus from a large multidisciplinary, international panel, minimum clinical criteria needed to determine BD/DNC in various circumstances were developed. RECOMMENDATIONS Prior to evaluating a patient for BD/DNC, the patient should have an established neurologic diagnosis that can lead to the complete and irreversible loss of all brain function, and conditions that may confound the clinical examination and diseases that may mimic BD/DNC should be excluded. Determination of BD/DNC can be done with a clinical examination that demonstrates coma, brainstem areflexia, and apnea. This is seen when (1) there is no evidence of arousal or awareness to maximal external stimulation, including noxious visual, auditory, and tactile stimulation; (2) pupils are fixed in a midsize or dilated position and are nonreactive to light; (3) corneal, oculocephalic, and oculovestibular reflexes are absent; (4) there is no facial movement to noxious stimulation; (5) the gag reflex is absent to bilateral posterior pharyngeal stimulation; (6) the cough reflex is absent to deep tracheal suctioning; (7) there is no brain-mediated motor response to noxious stimulation of the limbs; and (8) spontaneous respirations are not observed when apnea test targets reach pH <7.30 and Paco2 ≥60 mm Hg. If the clinical examination cannot be completed, ancillary testing may be considered with blood flow studies or electrophysiologic testing. Special consideration is needed for children, for persons receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, and for those receiving therapeutic hypothermia, as well as for factors such as religious, societal, and cultural perspectives; legal requirements; and resource availability. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE This report provides recommendations for the minimum clinical standards for determination of brain death/death by neurologic criteria in adults and children with clear guidance for various clinical circumstances. The recommendations have widespread international society endorsement and can serve to guide professional societies and countries in the revision or development of protocols and procedures for determination of brain death/death by neurologic criteria, leading to greater consistency within and between countries.
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Affiliation(s)
- David M Greer
- Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Sam D Shemie
- McGill University, Montreal Children's Hospital, Montreal, Canada
- Canadian Blood Services, Ottawa, Canada
| | | | | | | | | | - James L Bernat
- Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire
| | | | | | - Anne W Alexandrov
- College of Nursing, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis
| | - Marie Baldisseri
- University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Thomas Bleck
- Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois
| | | | | | - Arnold Hoppe
- Clínica Alemana, Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile
| | - Stephen Jacobe
- University of Sydney and Children's Hospital of Westmead, Westmead, Australia
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Rafael Badenes
- Hospital Clinic Universitari, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
| | - Andrew J Baker
- St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto and University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Vladimir Cerny
- J.E. Purkinje University, Masaryk Hospital, Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic
| | | | - Tiffany R Chang
- The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston
| | | | - Moon-Ku Han
- Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | | | | | | | - Gang Liu
- Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Walter Videtta
- National Hospital, Alejandro Posadas, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | | | - Gene Sung
- University of Southern California, Los Angeles
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28
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Affiliation(s)
- James L. Bernat
- Neurology and MedicineActive Emeritus, Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine Hanover NH USA
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29
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Neal JB, Pearlman RA, White DB, Tolchin B, Sheth KN, Bernat JL, Hwang DY. Policies for Mandatory Ethics Consultations at U.S. Academic Teaching Hospitals: A Multisite Survey Study. Crit Care Med 2020; 48:847-853. [PMID: 32317595 PMCID: PMC10765238 DOI: 10.1097/ccm.0000000000004343] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES To determine the number of top-ranked U.S. academic institutions that require ethics consultation for specific adult clinical circumstances (e.g., family requests for potentially inappropriate treatment) and to detail those circumstances and the specific clinical scenarios for which consultations are mandated. DESIGN Cross-sectional survey study, conducted online or over the phone between July 2016 and October 2017. SETTING We identified the top 50 research medical schools through the 2016 U.S. News and World Report rankings. The primary teaching hospital for each medical school was included. SUBJECTS The chair/director of each hospital's adult clinical ethics committee, or a suitable alternate representative familiar with ethics consultation services, was identified for study recruitment. INTERVENTIONS None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS A representative from the adult ethics consultation service at each of the 50 target hospitals was identified. Thirty-six of 50 sites (72%) consented to participate in the study, and 18 (50%) reported having at least one current mandatory consultation policy. Of the 17 sites that completed the survey and listed their triggers for mandatory ethics consultations, 20 trigger scenarios were provided, with three sites listing two distinct clinical situations. The majority of these triggers addressed family requests for potentially inappropriate treatment (9/20, 45%) or medical decision-making for unrepresented patients lacking decision-making capacity (7/20, 35%). Other triggers included organ donation after circulatory death, initiation of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, denial of valve replacement in patients with subacute bacterial endocarditis, and posthumous donation of sperm. Twelve (67%) of the 18 sites with mandatory policies reported that their protocol(s) was formally documented in writing. CONCLUSIONS Among top-ranked academic medical centers, the existence and content of official policies regarding situations that mandate ethics consultations are variable. This finding suggests that, despite recent critical care consensus guidelines recommending institutional review as standard practice in particular scenarios, formal adoption of such policies has yet to become widespread and uniform.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan B Neal
- University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT
| | - Robert A Pearlman
- National Center for Ethics in Health Care, Veterans Health Administration, Seattle, WA
- University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA
| | - Douglas B White
- Department of Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - Benjamin Tolchin
- Department of Neurology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
- Center for Neuroepidemiology and Clinical Neurological Research, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
| | - Kevin N Sheth
- Center for Neuroepidemiology and Clinical Neurological Research, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
- Division of Neurocritical Care and Emergency Neurology, Department of Neurology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
| | | | - David Y Hwang
- Center for Neuroepidemiology and Clinical Neurological Research, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
- Division of Neurocritical Care and Emergency Neurology, Department of Neurology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
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Abstract
Death can be defined as the permanent cessation of the organism as a whole. Although the organism as a whole is a century-old concept, it remains better intuited than analyzed. Recent concepts in theoretical biology including hierarchies of organization, emergent functions, and mereology have informed the idea that the organism as a whole is the organism's critical emergent functions. Because the brain conducts the critical emergent functions including conscious awareness and control of respiration and circulation, the cessation of brain functions is death of the organism. A newer concept, the brain as a whole, may offer a superior criterion of death to the whole-brain criterion, because it more closely matches accepted clinical brain death tests and confirms the cessation of the organism's emergent functions. Although the concepts of organism as a whole and brain as a whole remain vague and in need of rigorous biophilosophical analysis, their future precision will be restricted by the categorical limitations intrinsic to theoretical biological models.
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Affiliation(s)
- James L Bernat
- Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, USA
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Abstract
Historically, there has been a tendency to think that there are two types of death: circulatory and neurological. Holding onto this tendency is making it harder to navigate emerging resuscitative technologies, such as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and the recent well-publicised experiment that demonstrated the possibility of restoring cellular function to some brain neurons 4 h after normothermic circulatory arrest (decapitation) in pigs. Attempts have been made to respond to these difficulties by proposing a unified brain-based criterion for human death, which we call 'permanent brain arrest'. The clinical characteristics of permanent brain arrest are the permanent loss of capacity for consciousness and permanent loss of all brainstem functions, including the capacity to breathe. These losses could arise from a primary brain injury or as a result of systemic circulatory arrest. We argue that permanent brain arrest is the true and sole criterion for the death of human beings and show that this is already implicit in the circulatory-respiratory criterion itself. We argue that accepting the concept of permanent cessation of brain function in patients with systemic permanent circulatory arrest will help us better navigate the medical advances and new technologies of the future whilst continuing to provide sound medical criteria for the determination of death.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Gardiner
- Department of Intensive Care, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottingham, UK
| | - A McGee
- Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Faculty of Law, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - J L Bernat
- Department of Neurology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, USA
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Abstract
The dead donor rule (DDR) originally stated that organ donors must not be killed by and for organ donation. Scholars later added the requirement that vital organs should not be procured before death. Some now argue that the DDR is breached in donation after circulatory determination of death (DCDD) programs. DCDD programs do not breach the original version of the DDR because vital organs are procured only after circulation has ceased permanently as a consequence of withdrawal of life-sustaining therapy. We hold that the original rendition of the DDR banning killing by and for organ donation is the fundamental norm that should be maintained in transplantation ethics. We propose separating the DDR from two other fundamental normative rules: the duties to prevent harm and to obtain informed consent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne L Dalle Ave
- Ethics Unit, University Hospital of Lausanne, Rue Du Bugnon 21, 1011, Lausanne, Switzerland.
- Institute for Biomedical Ethics, University Medical Center 1, Rue Michel-Servet, 1211, Geneva 14, Switzerland.
| | - Daniel P Sulmasy
- Kennedy Institute of Ethics, The Departments of Medicine and Philosophy and the Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics, Georgetown University, 3700 O St, NW, Healy 419, Washington, DC, 20057, USA
| | - James L Bernat
- Neurology Department, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH, 03756, USA
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Abstract
Although death statutes permitting physicians to declare brain death are relatively uniform throughout the United States, academic debate persists over the equivalency of human death and brain death. Alan Shewmon showed that the formerly accepted integration rationale was conceptually incomplete by showing that brain-dead patients demonstrated a degree of integration. We provide a more complete rationale for the equivalency of human death and brain death by defending a deeper understanding of the organism as a whole (OaaW) and by using a novel strategy with shared objectives to justify death determination criteria. Our OaaW account describes different types of OaaW, defining human death as the loss of status as a human OaaW. We defend human death as similar to nonhuman death in terms of wakefulness, but also distinct in terms of the sui generis properties, particularly conscious awareness. We thereby defend the equivalency of brain death and human death using a resulting neurocentric rationale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew P Huang
- University of Rochester Strong Memorial Hospital, Rochester, New York, USA
| | - James L Bernat
- Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
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Abstract
Among the old and new controversies over brain death, none is more fundamental than whether brain death is equivalent to the biological phenomenon of human death. Here, I defend this equivalency by offering a brief conceptual justification for this view of brain death, a subject that Andrew Huang and I recently analyzed elsewhere in greater detail. My defense of the concept of brain death has evolved since Bernard Gert, Charles Culver, and I first addressed it in 1981, a development that paralleled advances in intensive care unit treatment. The century-old concept of the organism as a whole provides the fundamental justification for the equivalency of brain death and human death. In our technological age, in which increasing numbers of components and systems of an organism can be kept alive, and for longer intervals, the permanent cessation of functioning of the organism as a whole is the phenomenon that best corresponds to its death.
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Robbins NM, Meyer MJ, Bernat JL. Scope and nature of financial conflicts of interest between neurologists and industry: 2013-2016. Neurology 2019; 93:438-449. [PMID: 31383793 DOI: 10.1212/wnl.0000000000008067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2019] [Accepted: 06/12/2019] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To detail the scope and nature of financial conflicts of interest (COIs) between neurologists and the pharmaceutical and medical device industries (Industry) using the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Open Payments (OP) database, with a focus on trends from 2013 to 2016. METHODS Payments from Industry to US neurologists were categorized into research payments, general (nonresearch) payments, and value of ownership in Industry. We performed descriptive analyses to detail the scope and nature of these relationships and trends over time. RESULTS At least 9,505 neurologists received at least one payment from Industry each year. From 2013 to 2016, 1.6 million payments totaled $354 million, of which 99.5% of payments and 85.6% of payment value were for general/nonresearch-related payments. Most neurologists (between 65% and 80%) received less than $1,000 per year, but over 200 neurologists each received more than $100,000 during some years. Several received over $1 million. General payments are increasing, research payments are steady, and neurologists' ownership and investments are decreasing. CONCLUSIONS Neurologists have extensive financial relationships with Industry, though this is driven by a well-paid minority. As a profession, we must work to establish firm rules to manage these potential COIs, ensuring that relationships with Industry yield synergistic advances while minimizing bias and maintaining public trust.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathaniel M Robbins
- From Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine (N.M.R., J.L.B.), Hanover, NH; and Georgetown University (M.J.M.), Washington, DC.
| | - Mark J Meyer
- From Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine (N.M.R., J.L.B.), Hanover, NH; and Georgetown University (M.J.M.), Washington, DC
| | - James L Bernat
- From Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine (N.M.R., J.L.B.), Hanover, NH; and Georgetown University (M.J.M.), Washington, DC
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39
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Lewis SL, Bernat JL. Glenn A. Mackin, MD (1954–2018). Neurology 2019. [DOI: 10.1212/wnl.0000000000007165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
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Affiliation(s)
- James L Bernat
- From the Departments of Neurology and Medicine (J.L.B.), Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH; and Department of Neurology, Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, the New York Neurological Institute, NY.
| | - John C M Brust
- From the Departments of Neurology and Medicine (J.L.B.), Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH; and Department of Neurology, Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, the New York Neurological Institute, NY
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Abstract
Despite the popularity, success, and growth of programs of organ donation after the circulatory determination of death (DCDD), a long-standing controversy persists over whether the organ donor is truly dead at the moment physicians declare death, usually following five minutes of circulatory and respiratory arrest. Advocates of the prevailing death determination standard claim that the donor is dead when declared because of permanent cessation of respiration and circulation. Critics of this standard argue that while the cessation of respiration and circulation may be permanent, it may not be irreversible at the moment death is declared because, if cardiopulmonary resuscitation were performed, it might succeed. And because irreversibility of cessation of respiration and circulation is required by both the statute and the biological concept of death, the donor must be alive. Who is correct? Making two related distinctions clarifies the cause of the disagreement over whether the DCDD donor is dead and points to a possible resolution. First, in a determination of death, there is an important distinction between the permanent and the irreversible cessation of circulation and respiration-two associated phenomena that are often confounded. Second, there is an important distinction between the medical practice standard for death determination, in which physicians certify the permanent cessation of vital functions as sufficient for death declaration, and the underlying biological concept of death that requires the irreversible cessation of vital functions because death, by definition, is an irreversible event.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ariane Lewis
- Department of Neurology, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York University, New York.,Department of Neurosurgery, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York University, New York
| | - James L Bernat
- Department of Neurology and Medicine (Active Emeritus), Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire
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43
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Robbins NM, Bernat JL. Author Response: Practice Current: When do you order ancillary tests to determine brain death? Neurol Clin Pract 2018; 8:364. [DOI: 10.1212/cpj.0000000000000539] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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Lewis A, Bernat JL, Blosser S, Bonnie RJ, Epstein LG, Hutchins J, Kirschen MP, Rubin M, Russell JA, Sattin JA, Wijdicks EF, Greer DM. Author response: An interdisciplinary response to contemporary concerns about brain death determination. Neurology 2018; 91:536-538. [DOI: 10.1212/wnl.0000000000006154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
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45
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Affiliation(s)
- James L Bernat
- Department of Neurology and Medicine (JLB), Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH; and Department of Neurology (NAB), University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, PA
| | - Neil A Busis
- Department of Neurology and Medicine (JLB), Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH; and Department of Neurology (NAB), University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, PA
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46
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Abstract
This essay complements the scientific and practice scope of the American Academy of Neurology Guideline on Disorders of Consciousness by providing a discussion of the ethical, palliative, and policy aspects of the management of this group of patients. We endorse the renaming of "permanent" vegetative state to "chronic" vegetative state given the increased frequency of reports of late improvements but suggest that further refinement of this class of patients is necessary to distinguish late recoveries from patients who were misdiagnosed or in cognitive-motor dissociation. Additional nosologic clarity and prognostic refinement is necessary to preclude overestimation of low probability events. We argue that the new descriptor "unaware wakefulness syndrome" is no clearer than "vegetative state" in expressing the mismatch between apparent behavioral unawareness when patients have covert consciousness or cognitive motor dissociation. We advocate routine universal pain precautions as an important element of neuropalliative care for these patients given the risk of covert consciousness. In medical decision-making, we endorse the use of advance directives and the importance of clear and understandable communication with surrogates. We show the value of incorporating a learning health care system so as to promote therapeutic innovation. We support the Guideline's high standard for rehabilitation for these patients but note that those systems of care are neither widely available nor affordable. Finally, we applaud the Guideline authors for this outstanding exemplar of engaged scholarship in the service of a frequently neglected group of brain-injured patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph J Fins
- Division of Medical Ethics and Consortium for the Advanced Study of Brain Injury, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY; Solomon Center for Health Law & Policy, Yale Law School, New Haven, CT
| | - James L Bernat
- Departments of Neurology and Medicine, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH.
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47
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Fins JJ, Bernat JL. Ethical, palliative, and policy considerations in disorders of consciousness. Neurology 2018; 91:471-475. [PMID: 30089621 DOI: 10.1212/wnl.0000000000005927] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2017] [Accepted: 03/07/2018] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
This essay complements the scientific and practice scope of the American Academy of Neurology Guideline on Disorders of Consciousness by providing a discussion of the ethical, palliative, and policy aspects of the management of this group of patients. We endorse the renaming of "permanent" vegetative state to "chronic" vegetative state given the increased frequency of reports of late improvements but suggest that further refinement of this class of patients is necessary to distinguish late recoveries from patients who were misdiagnosed or in cognitive-motor dissociation. Additional nosologic clarity and prognostic refinement is necessary to preclude overestimation of low probability events. We argue that the new descriptor "unaware wakefulness syndrome" is no clearer than "vegetative state" in expressing the mismatch between apparent behavioral unawareness when patients have covert consciousness or cognitive motor dissociation. We advocate routine universal pain precautions as an important element of neuropalliative care for these patients given the risk of covert consciousness. In medical decision-making, we endorse the use of advance directives and the importance of clear and understandable communication with surrogates. We show the value of incorporating a learning health care system so as to promote therapeutic innovation. We support the Guideline's high standard for rehabilitation for these patients but note that those systems of care are neither widely available nor affordable. Finally, we applaud the Guideline authors for this outstanding exemplar of engaged scholarship in the service of a frequently neglected group of brain-injured patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph J Fins
- From the Division of Medical Ethics and Consortium for the Advanced Study of Brain Injury (J.J.F.), Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY; Solomon Center for Health Law & Policy (J.J.F.),Yale Law School, New Haven, CT; and Departments of Neurology and Medicine (J.L.B.), Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH
| | - James L Bernat
- From the Division of Medical Ethics and Consortium for the Advanced Study of Brain Injury (J.J.F.), Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY; Solomon Center for Health Law & Policy (J.J.F.),Yale Law School, New Haven, CT; and Departments of Neurology and Medicine (J.L.B.), Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH.
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48
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Bernat JL, Robbins NM. How Should Physicians Manage Organ Donation after the Circulatory Determination of Death in Patients with Extremely Poor Neurological Prognosis? AMA J Ethics 2018; 20:E708-716. [PMID: 30118420 DOI: 10.1001/amajethics.2018.708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
Organ donation after the circulatory determination of death (DCDD) accounts for a growing percentage of deceased organ donations. Although hospital DCDD protocols stipulate donor death determination, some do not adhere to national guidelines that require mechanical, not electrical, asystole. Surrogate decisions to withdraw life-sustaining therapy should be separated from decisions to donate organs. Donor families should be given sufficient information about the DCDD protocol and its impact on the dying process to provide informed consent, and donors should be given proper palliative care during dying. An unresolved ethical question is whether and how donor consent should be seen as authorizing manipulation of a living donor during the dying process solely for to benefit of the organ recipient.
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Affiliation(s)
- James L Bernat
- An active emeritus professor of neurology and medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, where he was also the Louis and Ruth Frank Professor of Neuroscience until 2018
| | - Nathaniel M Robbins
- An assistant professor of neurology at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire
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49
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Abstract
The whole-brain criterion of death provides that a person who has irreversibly lost all clinical functions of the brain is dead. Bedside brain death (BD) tests permit physicians to determine BD by showing that the whole-brain criterion of death has been fulfilled. In a nonsystematic literature review, we identified and analyzed case reports of a mismatch between the whole-brain criterion of death and bedside BD tests. We found examples of patients diagnosed as BD who showed (1) neurologic signs compatible with retained brain functions, (2) neurologic signs of uncertain origin, and (3) an inconsistency between standard BD tests and ancillary tests for BD. Two actions can resolve the mismatch between the whole-brain criterion of death and BD tests: (1) loosen the whole-brain criterion of death by requiring only the irreversible cessation of relevant brain functions and (2) tighten BD tests by requiring an ancillary test proving the cessation of intracranial blood flow. Because no one knows the precise brain functions whose loss is necessary to fulfill the whole-brain criterion of death, we advocate tightening BD tests by requiring the absence of intracranial blood flow.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne L. Dalle Ave
- Ethics Unit, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Institute for Biomedical Ethics, University Medical Center, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - James L. Bernat
- Neurology Department, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, USA
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50
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Robbins NM, Bernat JL. Practice Current: When do you order ancillary tests to determine brain death? Neurol Clin Pract 2018; 8:266-274. [PMID: 30105167 DOI: 10.1212/cpj.0000000000000473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2018] [Accepted: 04/11/2018] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Brain death has been accepted as a legal definition of death in most countries, but practices for determining brain death vary widely. One source of variation is in the use of ancillary tests to assist in the diagnosis of brain death. Through case-based discussions with 3 experts from 3 continents, this article discusses selected aspects of brain death, with a focus on the use of ancillary tests. In particular, we explore the following questions: Are ancillary tests necessary, or is the clinical examination sufficient? What ancillary tests are preferred, and under which circumstances? Are ancillary tests required when the primary mechanism of injury is brainstem injury? Should the family's wishes play a role in the need for ancillary tests? The same case-based questions were posed to the rest of our readership in an online survey, the preliminary results of which are also presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathaniel M Robbins
- Department of Neurology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH
| | - James L Bernat
- Department of Neurology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH
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