Practical limits to the uniform determination of death act

Death is a transition laden with meaning. Rather than overrule a common lifeworld understanding of death with scientific criteria, a process of involvement and interpretation might help health-care practitioners understand what death means for the family and the patient and possibly allow all to come to some shared agreement on appropriate treatment. The UDDA was offered as a way to standardize the practice of diagnosing death based on brain-related criteria. While these criteria may be essential to recognizing death in certain circumstances, they should not be used as the final word on withdrawal of life-support in the absence of or in place of an understanding with the patient's family.