Posted on 19th September 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized
brain dead, brain injury, brain injury attorney
In this sad case, the adage “no good deed goes unpunished” was true.
When a tornado passed through Queens, N.Y., Thursday a Good Samaritan tried to help a woman when a tree crushed her car. The woman died and Richard Bermudez, 57, of St. Albans, Queens, suffered a brain aneurysm Friday, apparently from the stress of his efforts to rescue the woman, the New York Post reported Sunday.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/brain_death_hits_storm_hero_xY9A7sgYk6A9bLAjubIv3K
Bermudez, who was slated to be married this week, was diagnosed as brain dead Saturday, and was given last rites by a priest.
Posted on 7th June 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized
brain dead, brain dead guidelines, brain injury attorney, brain injury lawyer, coma, traumatic brain injury
There’s lots of injustice in this world, and declaring somone brain dead who isn’t would be high on the top of the list of such tragedies.
That’s why I think it’s a good idea that new guidelines for determining if a patient is brain dead have just been issued.
Essentially saying it wants to take the guesswork out of the process, the American Academy of Neurology Monday released those new guidelines — the first update in 15 years.
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/brain-and-behavior/articles/2010/06/07/experts-revise-guidelines-for-determining-brain-death.html
The new guides tell physicians to do a extensive evaluation of a patient, with a check list of about 25 tests that must be performed and specific criteria that must be met.
The new guidelines were co-written by Dr. Panayiotis Varelas, director of the Neuro-Intensive Care Service at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
The U.S. Uniform Determination of Death Act does define when death takes place: When a person permanently stops breathing; the heart stops beating; and all brain functions, including those in the stem, stop.
The problem is that doctors differently determine who meets those criteria.
A 2008 study that included 41 of the country’s top hospitals, done by Varelas, found a lot of variability in how doctors and hospitals judged who fit the criteria.
Under the revised guidelines, the three signs of brain death are coma with a known cause; abscence of brain stem reflexes and the permanent cessation of breathing.
Being in a vegetative state does not equate to being brain dead, according to the new rules.
Brain death is caused by severe traumatic brain injury, stroke or oxygen deprivation following cardiac arrest.
