For some time, Kerala-based medic and activist S. Ganapathy has been challenging the legitimacy of brain death determination. For example, he alleges that Form 10, which certifies a patient as brain dead, is sent to doctors' rooms for signature, who sign the same without so much as seeing the patient.
This week, Ganapathy achieved some measure of success. The Supreme Court of India indicated that it will seek expert opinion on whether brain angiogram and electroencephalogram (EEG) are better modes to determine if a person is brain dead, compared to the apnea test followed currently.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said it would ask the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Neurology Department to constitute the committee which can provide its views on the safety and viability of these tests.
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