At this event, Erin Talati Paquette (Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Associate Chair of the Ethics Advisory Board, Associate Director for Ethics Advocacy and Co-Chair of the Health Equity Task Force at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago) explored the fact that obtaining consent for the full evaluation to determine death respects diverse viewpoints on brain death and supports the moral status and right to autonomous choice of the individual. Paquette discussed the potential misuse of ancillary testing if consent for the apnea test is not obtained, and the importance of not conflating the requirement for consent with the obligation of adequate disclosure. There are ethical and legal justifications for obtaining consent for the entire DNC evaluation.

This working group was organized as part of the Death: From Philosophy to Medical Practice and the Law project at the Neubauer Collegium.