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The Committee which acted for the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws in preparing the Uniform Determination of Death Act was as follows:

GEORGE C. KEELY, 1600 Colorado National Building, 950 Seventeenth Street,

Denver, CO 80202, Chairman

ANNE McGILL GORSUCH, 243 South Fairfax, Denver, CO 80222

JOHN M. McCABE, Room 510, 645 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611,

Legal Counsel

WILLIAM H. WOOD, 208 Walnut Street, Harrisburg, PA 17108

JOHN C. DEACON, P.O. Box 1245 Jonesboro, AR 72401, President, Ex Officio

M. KING HILL, JR., 6th Floor, 100 Light Street, Baltimore, MD 21202, Chairman,

Executive Committee, Ex Officio

WILLIAM J. PIERCE, University of Michigan, School of Law, Ann Arbor, MI 48109,

Executive Director, Ex Officio

PETER F. LANGROCK, P.O. Drawer 351, Middlebury, VT 05753, Chairman,

Division E, Ex Officio

Copies of all Uniform and Model Acts and other printed matter issued by the Conference may be obtained from:

This Act provides comprehensive bases for determining death in all situations. It is based on a ten-year evolution of statutory language on this subject. The first statute passed in Kansas in 1970. In 1972, Professor Alexander Capron and Dr. Leon Kass refined the concept further in "A Statutory Definition of the Standards for Determining Human Death: An Appraisal and a Proposal," 121 Pa. L. Rev. 87. In 1975, the Law and Medicine Committee of the American Bar Association (ABA) drafted a Model Definition of Death Act. In 1978, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) completed the Uniform Brain Death Act. It was based on the prior work of the ABA. In 1979, the American Medical Association (AMA) created its own Model Determination of Death statute. In the meantime, some twenty-five state legislatures adopted statutes based on one or another of the existing models.

The interest in these statutes arises from modern advances in lifesaving technology. A person may be artificially supported for respiration and circulation after all brain functions cease irreversibly. The medical profession, also, has developed techniques for determining loss of brain functions while cardiorespiratory support is administered. At the same time, the common law definition of death cannot assure recognition of these techniques. The common law standard for determining death is the cessation of all vital functions, traditionally demonstrated by "an absence of spontaneous respiratory and cardiac functions." There is, then, a potential disparity between current and accepted biomedical practice and the common law.

The proliferation of model acts and uniform acts, while indicating a legislative need, also may be confusing. All existing acts have the same principal goal - extension of the common law to include the new techniques for determination of death. With no essential disagreement on policy, the associations which have drafted statutes met to find common language. This Act contains that common language, and is the result of agreement between the ABA, AMA, and NCCUSL.

Part (1) codifies the existing common law basis for determining death - total failure of the cardiorespiratory system. Part (2) extends the common law to include the new procedures for determination of death based upon irreversible loss of all brain functions. The overwhelming majority of cases will continue to be determined according to part (1). When artificial means of support preclude a determination under part (1), the Act recognizes that death can be determined by the alternative procedures.

Under part (2), the entire brain must cease to function, irreversibly. The "entire brain" includes the brain stem, as well as the neocortex. The concept of "entire brain" distinguishes determination of death under this Act from "neocortical death" or "persistent vegetative state." These are not deemed valid medical or legal bases for determining death.

This Act also does not concern itself with living wills, death with dignity, euthanasia, rules on death certificates, maintaining life support beyond brain death in cases of pregnant women or of organ donors, and protection for the dead body. These subjects are left to other law.

This Act is silent on acceptable diagnostic tests and medical procedures. It sets the general legal standard for determining death, but not the medical criteria for doing so. The medical profession remains free to formulate acceptable medical practices and to utilize new biomedical knowledge, diagnostic tests, and equipment.

It is unnecessary for the Act to address specifically the liability of persons who make determinations. No person authorized by law to determine death, who makes such a determination in accordance with the Act, should, or will be, liable for damages in any civil action or subject to prosecution in any criminal proceeding for his acts or the acts of others based on that determination. No person who acts in good faith, in reliance on a determination of death, should, or will be, liable for damages in any civil action or subject to prosecution in any criminal proceeding for his acts. There is no need to deal with these issues in the text of this Act.

Time of death, also, is not specifically addressed. In those instances in which time of death affects legal rights, this Act states the bases for determining death. Time of death is a fact to be determined with all others in each individual case, and may be resolved, when in doubt, upon expert testimony before the appropriate court.

Finally, since this Act should apply to all situations, it should not be joined with the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act so that its application is limited to cases of organ donation.

Section

1 . Determination of Death.

2. Uniformity of Construction and Application.

3. Short Title.

Be it enacted . . .

§ 1. [Determination of Death]. 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. A determination of death must be made in accordance with accepted medical standards.

§ 2. [Uniformity of Construction and Application]. This Act shall be applied and construed to effectuate its general purpose to make uniform the law with respect to the subject of this Act among states enacting it.

§ 3. [Short Title]. This Act may be cited as the Uniform Determination of Death Act.