Plea over declaring patient brain dead: SC proposes to ask AIIMS to constitute committee

The Supreme Court on Tuesday indicated that it would ask the All India Institute of Medical Sciences to constitute a committee to examine the suggestions given by a petitioner relating to the procedure of declaring a patient brain dead. The petitioner had moved the high court, highlighting the alleged malpractice in declaring a patient to be brain dead.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday indicated that it would ask the All India Institute of Medical Sciences to constitute a committee to examine the suggestions given by a petitioner relating to the procedure of declaring a patient brain dead. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta was hearing a plea challenging a June 2017 order of the Kerala High Court. The petitioner had moved the high court, highlighting the alleged malpractice in declaring a patient to be brain dead. During the hearing on Tuesday, the petitioner, who appeared in person, referred to the process of certifying a patient to be brain dead. ''There must be verifiable evidence of a patient being brain dead,'' the petitioner told the apex court. Contending that brain death is a condition when there is no supply of blood to the brain, the petitioner suggested that angiography and an EEG of the brain should be conducted. The electroencephalogram (EEG) test measures electrical activity in the brain. The bench told the petitioner to give his suggestions in writing. ''We propose to request the head of the department of neurology, AIIMS, to constitute a committee and give us a report or comments on the suggestions made by you,'' the bench said. It further noted that the matter would be heard in July.