Awakening (Mis)conceptions About Brain Death

Abstract

The headlines above, all making reference to the same event, appeared on various Internet stories in late December 2011, but similar headlines appear frequently atop stories in the popular media. Such miraculous accounts certainly entice readers, and of course they are great news for the people figuring in them who presumably earn a new lease on life. But to those of us who care for critically ill patients day in and day out, such sensationalism can be frustrating. Often the journalists who report these stories recycle misunderstandings and misconceptions about brain death. When misunderstood, such accounts can confuse families, leaving them with a sense that critical care practitioners don’t know what we’re doing—or worse, that the members of the multidisciplinary care team cannot be trusted. These unfortunate misunderstandings create a false sense that the intensive care unit (ICU) team and the patient’s family are at odds with one another, with families protecting and speaking for patients at their most vulnerable while ICU teams seem interested only in withdrawal of support to reinforce a hastily made and seemingly incorrect diagnosis of brain death. What can we as members of multidisciplinary critical care teams do to repair such damage?