"This does not mean that usual criteria for brain death are incorrect. But it does mean that, like any criteria, they are judged by fallible human beings - who may have an interest, conscious or subconscious, in having the decision go their way, whichever way that was. (Run-on sentence, but interesting point.) Is Jahi McMath dead? We need the bed; she costs too much to care for, and we're never wrong. Is Charlie Gard's case hopeless? Of course it is; we said so, and we're never wrong. Does Terri Schiavo want to die? She must, because the judge said so - but don't offer her water or ice chips; if she takes them, that would suggest that she doesn't want to die, and we're never wrong.
"Ever watch Forensic Files? Someone near the end usually says, Science never lies. No, but people do, including scientists. After all, if a full-term fetus isn't legally a "person," and the severely brain damaged can be slowly dehydrated and starved to death, then who is to say that the severely ill or disabled can't be declared "as good as dead"? We used to hang convicted murderers - the noose tightened quickly. The Spaniards used to employ the garrote the metal band tightened slowly, but the result was the same. The noose of the anti-life movement is tightening slowly, but steadily."
. . . Dr. David C. Stolinsky.
