Public Trust in Death Determination at 75 Year Low

Public trust in the determination of death was low in the 1840s. Thus, there were books like Edgar Allen Poe's THE PREMATURE BURIAL. Sitting here in Havana at a conference on brain death, it seems that we may be approaching another era of public mistrust in death determination.

Accordingly, it is reassuring to hear of sophisticated efforts to standardize protocols not only across the USA but also across the world. Eliminating variability and maximally mitigating the risk of error will help preserve public confidence in death diagnosed by neurological criteria.