California Family Questions Hospital's Brain Death Determination

On July 7, 2019, California resident Anthony Vallejo (30) suffered an asthma attack that led to cardiac arrest. On July 12, clinicians at Sutter Delta Medical Center, declared him brain-dead. Since Vallejo is a registered organ donor, clinicians planned to procure his organs for donation.

But his wife wanted them to wait one more week. She says that because his heart is "still beating," she wants to see if he recovers. As public confidence in brain death falters as a result of high-profile litigation, we may see more requests like this.