Vilasrao Deshmukh's death rakes up a pressing issue

Brain death is not a psychiatric condition but a situation where there is severe and irreversible damage to the brain stem ( an area of the brain that controls the vital functions like breathing spontaneously). This damage usually results from injury to the brain or due to massive bleeding due to a stroke or tumour.Not all patients in coma are brain dead. Such a person cannot breathe on his own an

d is unable to synchronise functions. Tests to detect the presence of this condition are very elaborate and accepted over last five decades. For a period of time after brain death ( hours-days) the heart continues to pump blood and hence organs like kidneys, lungs, liver,intestines and pancreas remain functional. During this period these organs can be retrieved with consent from the family by a surgical procedure and transplanted to save lives of others whose own organs have failed. The procedure to retrieve is a surgical procedure done in an operation theatre under anaesthesia and hence the individual is kept pain free. Such an individual in any case is unable to experience pain or sensation due to functional disruption of connection between the spinal cord and the brain. The law to this effect is in existence since 1994.Although it is typically Indian to highlight an issue only when a celebrity or politician is involved, it does not take away the fact that this is a real issue. Ask those people who have someone jn their family on dialysis or with liver disease. Rather than deride the process or the context, the need of the hour is to propagate information and shore up the legal and administrative machinery to ensure just and timely implementation of the existing rules