Before examining hospital policies, state death laws, and the uses of ethics committees; it is important to understand the public misconceptions about death, why medical interventions are discontinued, and the demands that families place on doctors. Although there is public awareness of the two types of death: brain and cardiopulmonary, the reasons for stopping medical interventions or life supports are not common knowledge. Additionally, the inaccurate portrayals of medical intervention and death in the media exacerbate the misunderstandings between caretakers and physicians due to families obtaining their medical knowledge from erroneous sources.
