• In Florida, legal death is determined at the point of entire brain death.Heartbeat image by JASON WINTER from Fotolia.com
  
  “Brain death” refers to the stop of all activity of the central nervous system. It has been legally interpreted as the point of death by various states since the 1970s and was adopted throughout the United States by the mid-1990s. Depending on the state, brain death may be defined as the ceasing of activity of the entire brain or of only a part of the brain. In Florida, brain death is defined as the point of complete inactivity throughout the entire brain, including the brain stem. Florida Statues Title XXIX, Chapter 382.009 defines the state’s standing on brain death in entirety.
  
  

Respiratory and Circulatory Functions

• In cases where artificial means of support are used to sustain a hospitalized patient, it is possible for the respiratory and circulatory systems to continue working after the brain has stopped all functioning. Therefore, it is impossible to determine whether these functions may otherwise have ceased were they not supported artificially. In such cases, the state of Florida recognizes that the person in question is officially dead upon the irreversible cessation of all brain activity, including that of the brain stem.
  
  

Requisite Conditions

• In order to recognize and record the event of brain death, two fully licensed physicians must agree on the findings. One of the physicians must by the patient’s treating physician. The other must be board-eligible or board-certified, and may be a neurologist, neurosurgeon, internist, pediatrician, surgeon or anesthesiologist.
  
  

Notification

• When brain death occurs, the attending physicians or caregivers are obligated to notify the next of kin as soon as is practically feasible. The notification must be recorded within the deceased’s medical records. In the case that it is impossible to notify the next of kin, the unsuccessful attempt to notify must likewise be recorded in the medical records.
  
  

Unlawful Recovery or Criminal Proceedings

• Any physician or licensed medical facility that determines brain death in accordance with Chapter 382.009 cannot be criminally charged for doing so. Neither can any recovery of damages be claimed against the physician or medical facility. This ban on recoveries or criminal proceedings assumes that the determination of brain death was made with an acceptable standard of care, with no evidence of medical negligence. (A full definition of medical negligence is given in Florida Statute 766.102; see second link in Resources.)
  
  

Continuing Debate

• While Florida law clearly delineates the definition of death, the area remains highly contested publicly. In 1992, the issue of whole-brain death versus partial brain death received media coverage when a newborn born with no brain and only a partial brain stem was considered alive by the state of Florida. The state denied the parents’ request to declare the baby dead, wishing to donate her organs before they shut down. On the grounds that the infant had a functional piece of brain stem, the courts determined total brain death had not occurred.