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During a heart bypass surgery, the heart stops beating. Is this person considered dead?

By kuyakev Asked Mar 29 2007 5:23PM
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by Miss on Mar 29, 2007 at 5:40 pm Permalink

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No, I don't think so. The blood is taken out of the body and circulated in the heart-lung machine. The coronary arteries are bypassed with other veins and then the heart continues as normal.

Clinically dead? That might be the case, but your body goes on functioning with the help of the heart-lung machine.

Also, there is now a way to preform the surgery while the heart is still beating. Crazy, but it's true.
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by GeorgieGirl on Mar 29, 2007 at 5:39 pm Permalink

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I don't think b/c the brain is still active and the heart is still beating even though it is a machine that's doing the pumping.
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by Sketchy Mess Jeoffory on Mar 29, 2007 at 6:10 pm Permalink

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No, you are only considered dead when your brain shows no signs of activity and you have no heartbeat or respirations.
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Avatar Anonymous T. Jackson Aug, 05 2009 at 06:50 AM
Like holding your breath and voting for Sarah Palin.

Answer 4 out of 5

by zee-ster on Mar 29, 2007 at 6:07 pm Permalink

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no
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by heart-bypass-surgery on Aug 5, 2009 at 6:48 am Permalink

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No, the person is not considered dead. However, in some cases a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care might come into play as the person cannot respond during surgery.

If you are interested in the legal side of things, you might want to take a look at the NOLO definition:

http://www.nolo.com/.../


Specifically for the medical questions, you may want to look at:

http://heartbypass.org/.../...ypass-surgery.php
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During a heart bypass surgery, the heart stops beating. Is this person considered dead?

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