This article explored the very difficult and wrenching ethical and moral issues doctors face when having to decide with patients and family ‘when to pull the plug.’ Technology has greatly increased the complexity of this issue. People (both medical and non-medical) have different definitions of what constitutes ‘legal death’; determining legal death is made tougher by technology that can detect tiny, formerly undetectable signs of life within the brain, even when the patient is unconscious.In this article, religious people, medical experts, and patients debate whether a patient is or is not considered ‘legally dead.’ The ramifications are tremendous, both for the issues of potential organ donations, and for the emotions of the family.
