China to adopt ‘brain death’ standard
Could lower national medical billChinese transplant
surgeons will soon be able to harvest organs from brain dead patients
more easily. The Vice Minister of Health, Huang Jiefu, an
Australia-trained liver transplant specialist who is a member of the
Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, said that new
rules would “play a role in lowering the country’s
medical bill”. In the past, Chinese traditions
have hampered the acceptance of brain death. Dr Huang says that the
dominant view has always been that “life goes on until the last
breath and until the heart stops beating”. But this means that
organs will often be irreparably damaged. He expects an increase in
the number of donors after the new standard is adopted. However he
does not expect that a new law will be passed to give complete
clarity for surgeons and patients. ~ China Daily, Mar 8
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