ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the development of brain-related criteria for death and assesses the philosophical status of the brainstem concept of death which is employed in the UK and several other countries. It discusses highly controversial, proposals to expand the boundaries of brain death so as to include as potential cadaveric organ donors patients in various non-cognitive states who, according to existing moral and legal guidelines, are deemed to be alive. The book proposes ethical problems raised by proposals to procure foetal tissue for transplantation purposes. It explores examines the problems inherent in recent proposals to procure organs from dying neonates and also examines the problems of cadaveric organ procurement as well as policies for obtaining replacement organs and tissues from living humans and various non-human sources.
