Brain death and Islam: the interface of religion, culture, history, law, and modern medicine.

ABSTRACT: How one defines death may vary. It is important for clinicians to recognize those aspects of a patient's religious beliefs that may directly influence medical care and how such practices may interface with local laws governing the determination of death. Debate continues about the validity and certainty of brain death criteria within Islamic traditions. A search of PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, Web of Science, PsycNet, Sociological Abstracts, DIALOGUE ProQuest, Lexus Nexus, Google, and applicable religious texts was conducted to address the question of whether brain death is accepted as true death among Islamic scholars and clinicians and to discuss how divergent opinions may affect clinical care. The results of the literature review inform this discussion. Brain death has been acknowledged as r

SUBMITTER: Miller AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4188144 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature