X-Message-Number: 14345 Date: Sat, 19 Aug 2000 18:06:13 -0400 From: Jan Coetzee <> Subject: Call for Anesthesia for Braindead UK Organ Donors Saturday August 19 7:44 AM ET Call for Anesthesia for Braindead UK Organ Donors LONDON (Reuters) - Leading British anesthetists have called for brain-dead organ donors to be administered anesthetics before their organs are removed amid fears they could still be aware of pain, the Guardian reported on Saturday. The paper cited an editorial in the Royal College of Anesthetists' journal ``Anesthesia'' as saying both muscle movements and increases in blood pressure and the heart rate, which occur in some cases of organ removal, distress medical staff witnessing the operation. ``Death is not an event but a process and our limited understanding of the process should demand caution before assuming that anesthesia is not required,'' Basil Matta and Peter Young of Addenbrooke's hospital in Cambridge said in the editorial. A number of studies had shown some activity detected in brain cells even though the brain-stem -- which connects the brain to the spine -- is unresponsive, they added. Guidelines issued by Britain's Intensive Care Society watchdog state that the use of anesthetics is not necessary during such operations on brain-dead patients, and the Department of Health rejected the anesthetists' claims. ``There is no doubt that when people are brain-dead they don't feel any pain,'' a Department of Health spokeswoman said. Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=14345