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In 1968 doctors in Harvard found that deeply comatose patients who
had sustained brain injury, never regained consciousness. Although
their heart continued to beat and kept their blood circulation going,
these patients were clinically dead. If their breathing support machines
were stopped, the heart stopped due to brain death. A new definition
of death emerged. As this death was under controlled circumstances (i.e,
in the intensive care of hospitals), it was possible to retrieve
some of their organs (like Kidneys, heart & Liver) after consent from
their relatives. In the West, the transplantation of these organs
from brain dead patients is an accepted part of medical treatment.
The Govt. of India has also now accepted this new definition of death.
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