Why Do Families Reject the Diagnosis of Brain Death, and How Should We Respond?

Robert D Truog^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA.
² Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Center for Bioethics, Boston, MA.

Editorial

Robert D Truog. Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2023.

. 2023 Aug 1;24(8):701-703.

doi: 10.1097/PCC.0000000000003264. Epub 2023 Aug 3.

Robert D Truog^{1

2}

¹ Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA.
² Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Center for Bioethics, Boston, MA.

No abstract available

Conflict of interest statement

Dr. Truog has disclosed that he does not have any potential conflicts of interest.

Refusals of the Determination of Death by Neurologic Criteria: A Mixed Methods Study of Physician Perspectives on Refusals Cases.
Paquette ED, Ross LF, Chavez J, Frader JE. Paquette ED, et al. Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2023 Aug 1;24(8):628-635. doi: 10.1097/PCC.0000000000003246. Epub 2023 May 1. Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2023. PMID: 37125806 Free PMC article.

1. Paquette ED, Ross LF, Chavez J, et al.: Refusals of the Determination of Death by Neurologic Criteria: A Mixed Methods Study of Physician Perspectives on Refusals Cases. Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2023; 24:628–635
1. Truog RD, Paquette ET, Tasker RC: Understanding brain death. JAMA. 2020; 323:2139–2140
1. President’s Commission: Defining Death: A Report on the Medical, Legal, and Ethical Issues in the Determination of Death. Washington, DC, Government Printing Office, 1981
1. Bernat JL, Culver CM, Gert B: On the definition and criterion of death. Ann Intern Med. 1981; 94:389–394
1. Wijdicks EFM: Deliberating death in the summer of 1968. N Engl J Med. 2018; 379:412–415