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Brain-death draft law stirs up controversy
( 2002-09-03 10:44 ) (8 )

Chinese legislators and medical workers have held heated discussions in the past few days on whether it is correct to have a law defining brain death.

The debate was inspired by remarks from Vice-Minister of Health Huang Jiefu. He said last Wednesday that his ministry had completed draft criteria for determining brain death.

The ministry is now soliciting suggestions and ideas from various sections of society on the criteria.

Arguments for and against brain-death legislation have raged for more than two decades in China, where death is traditionally and legally defined as "the cessation of respiration and blood circulation."

The moment of most deaths is regarded as the time when breathing stops and the heart stops beating.

Huang said the implementation of a law on brain death will halt ineffective treatment and reduce the unnecessary consumption of medical resources and also lead to more organs being available for transplant, said Xinhua News Agency.

According to the traditional idea, organ transplants should be performed only after the organ donor has stopped breathing and when their heart has stopped beating. But the other organs have usually become useless by then.

Chen Zhonghua, a professor from Tongji Hospital in Wuhan in Central China's Hubei Province, said that the law on brain death must be strictly based on medical science, widespread public acceptance and a sound legal environment.

Some experts said China does not yet have the conditions needed to implement a law on brain death.

Many doctors in China still lack the necessary skill, knowledge or equipment to correctly determine brain death. So the improvement of medical training and hospital conditions is urgent. Liu Gexin, a professor from the Beijing-based China University of Politics and Law, said China need only establish legally recognized medical criteria on brain death, rather than a law as such.