Brain Death and Organ Donation

In the US, the Harvard Ad Hoc committee and the Presidents Commission in 1981 defined criteria for brain death in 1968, which were later codified in the Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA) in 1981 The UDDA reads: “An individual who has sustained either: (1) irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions or (2) irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including brain stem, is dead; A determination of death must be made in accordance with accepted medical standards”