The phenomenon of death is a complex event wrought with controversy both medically and philosophically. Because the body's systems do not shut down all at once, there is no exact point in time to declare when a person is no longer a person. Likewise, in the beginnings of medicine, the lack of knowledge and guidelines lead to many patients being declared dead prematurely. Today, the advancement in medical technology and knowledge allows for thorough testing which nearly eliminates medical error, but in itself creates more problems between physicians and the public. Families and surrogates demand continued medical intervention in cases of cardiopulmonary or brain death due to lack of understanding of how treatments work or citing religious reasons.
