(StraightNews.org) – A retired neonatologist, Dr. Paul Byrne, has denounced the notion of brain death and said it has no scientific basis. Dr. Byrne first encountered the phenomenon in 1975 when an infant patient showed little brain activity and was considered to have suffered “cerebral death.” Byrne insisted the concept was “invented” and continued to treat the boy, identified only as Joseph.
During a recent interview discussing euthanasia, Dr. Byrne said the idea of brain death emerged after a failed heart transplant in New York City and a subsequent Harvard report identifying what it called “irreversible coma.” The physician said the report effectively equated “irreversible coma” with death, a notion he finds outrageous. “We know what life is, we know that death is something different,” Dr. Byrne said.
The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) defines brain death as the “death of the individual due to irreversible loss of function to the entire brain.” It notes that this definition is accepted as “legal death” in all US jurisdictions and recognized by all branches of the mainstream medical profession.
The AAN said it is not aware of any cases in which the application of its Brain Death Guidelines “led to inaccurate determination of death with return of any brain function.”
The National Library of Medicine explains how a brain death determination is made and states that three conditions must be met. The patient must be in a coma and lack brainstem reflexes, and the brain must have ceased sending critical messages to the body, such as ensuring it breathes normally.
To determine if a patient lacks brainstem reflexes, doctors must ensure the patient has no eye and motor reflexes and does not respond to stimuli. The patient must also undergo neuroimaging, physical examination, and laboratory testing before a definitive diagnosis of brain death can be made.
Nevertheless, Dr. Byrne insists that medicine has begun interfering with “God’s will” and that society is increasingly seeking an “easy way out.”
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