Colorado death ruling chills transplant community

Brain death standards for all 50 states follow the same template.

By Andis Robeznieks, AMNews staff. Oct. 25, 2004.

It is generally accepted that the actions of one person can sometimes make a difference in the world, but people involved in organ donations are hoping that the recent actions of a county coroner in rural Colorado won't have such an impact.

Montrose County Coroner and paramedic Mark Young sent shockwaves through the organ transplant community when he ruled Sept. 28 that a 31-year-old man's death was a homicide -- the result of his organs being removed at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction, Colo., and not necessarily the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Young said his intent was to address concerns about the differing protocols hospitals use for declaring brain death, but some experts fear that he has made the public less confident in the organ procurement system.

"This has caused a stir around the country that is unjustified and is likely to have a significant negative impact on organ donation," said Robert Sade, MD, of the AMA Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs and a former member of the United Network for Organ Sharing ethics committee. "The public really needs to be reassured that declarations of death in advance of procuring organs is a highly controlled process and that there are standards in place that are followed in making these declarations."