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Medical Legal

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The Alliance Advancement Series
Understanding the UDDA: A Review of the Legal Standard of Death Determination

Presented on: Tuesday, November 29, 2022

The Uniform Determination of Death Act, (“UDDA”) which is currently the law in most states holds that in order to be determined deceased an individual must present irreversible cession of cardiorespiratory function or irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem. However, inconsistencies identified between the clinical protocols to declare brain death and the legal wording has led to discussions suggesting that action should be taken to revise and clarify the legal standard of death determination. Given that most deceased donations result from patients declared dead by neurologic criteria, this ongoing deliberation is important to the donation and transplantation community, and other constituents in the continuum of care, including patients. For this discussion, we will be joined by Christina Strong, JD. and Brendan Parent, JD who will provide further information about the proposals being made to help us better understand the rationale behind these changes from the legal and ethical perspective.

  • Summarize the underlying viewpoints and issues surrounding the concept of brain death and the practical diagnosis of brain death.
  • Describe the medical, legal and legislative context in which these changes have arisen and are being discussed
  • Describe the potential impact of various proposed changes on the donation and transplant process, as well as end-of-life decision-making and care in general.
  • Explain the impact that a potential revision to the UDDA may have on donation overall, specifically as it relates to methods and technologies used to procure organs.
Christina Strong
Speaker
Christina Strong
JD
Law Office of CW Strong, LLC

Members of the donation and transplantation community serving diverse populations to include administrators, coordinators, physicians, nurses, surgeons, managers, quality improvement specialists, social workers, and other donation and transplantation center professionals and their colleagues.

Continuing Education Credits

Continuing Education credits are no longer available for this learning opportunity.

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