Dear Ubiquitin,
I read what you wrote carefully. I understood that the heart could be functioning mechanically – not reflexively. If I got that wrong it changes a lot. Assuming I didn’t, my point was that zero function of brain stem reflexes by itself could never be an actual way to determine death, because if the major (heart or lungs) organs are working, that is proof of some brain activity. The possibility of having life without the major organs is zero, even with a functioning brain stem. Since the patient is not breathing, the only question is how to view the mechanical heart. That is not a question of brain function, as the brain can function (albeit in a meaningless manner) without the heart or lungs. The whole question revolves around a vent and the mechanical impulse of the lungs. Not the brain. Even though the brain is where the measuring takes place, it is the major organs that are being measured. If there is medical brain death without apnea, than I am completely wrong.
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