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"certain to die" but not classified as "brain dead"
CANBERRA, July 13, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Australian Health Ethics Committee is lobbying to have legislation passed that would allow those patients who are "certain to die" but not classified as "brain dead" to be surgically prepared for organ donation before death.
Currently, those patients who are declared "brain dead" are prepared by a procedure that involves inserting tubes into major arteries to prepare for cleansing of organs after death, blood tests and drug administration to better preserve organs.
The Committee's working party has asked for legislation that would extend the preparation to those patients who are not "brain dead" but who are expected to die when the heart stops beating.
