death
Death is defined as the ending of heartbeat and respiration or brain function. This cessation must be irreversible and determined in accordance with accepted medical standards.
The official definition of death, according to the UDDA (Uniform Determination of Death Act), is the “irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions or irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brainstem.” The UDDA was drafted in 1980 due to a disparity between the legal and medical definitions provided by the ABA (American Bar Association) and the AMA (American Medical Association). This disparity caused litigation over legal discrepancies in determining the point of death.
Both legal and medical experts are pushing to update the UDDA definition to better align with modern medical standards for the point of death. The updated definition would define death as “the permanent cessation of brain function and provide corresponding circulatory and neurologic criteria to ascertain the permanent cessation of brain function.”
For more information on death, see this Columbia Science and Technology Law Review article, and this AMA Journal of Ethics article.
[Last reviewed in October of 2024 by the Wex Definitions Team]
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