John Fortunato Ethics

When asked to define the term death, many would say the end of life, but what exactly qualifies as the end of life? This is what author John Fortunato (2013) discusses in his article “‘Irreversibility’ and the Modern Understanding of Death”. He demonstrates how death is a very confusing and cryptic subject, but thanks to scientific advancements in medical technology we are coming closer to answering that question. In his article, Fortunato questions the role ethics has in defining death. Ethics should not be the first priority when it comes to the definition of death due to the abstract nature of ethics, and the obstruction it has on medical advancements. In 1968, a committee at Harvard Medical School suggested the use of brain death as the official standard in pronouncing death. They stated the patient would have to present the absence of breath, movement, and reflexes. The patient must …show more content…
This led to the questioning of ethical considerations have an influence on the definition and criteria of death. Once the brain dead criteria were accepted, many scholars worried it would lead to an ethics downfall. They argued when considering brain death as death, it would open doors to unethical practices. Practices such as using brain dead patients for surgical, immunological, and drug research, or using prolonged artificial respiration until organ procurement is completed (Fortunato, 2013). Most of those unethical practices they forewarned have become common medical procedures. In fact, brain dead patients account for over 90% of the organs donated. Today, we would not have the knowledge of organ transplantation if we did not cross that ethical line at one point in