Euthanasia, physician assisted suicide, brain death and legal starvation of people in incapacitated conditions are the issues that are before us now.

Recently legislation has been proposed in Delaware that would make participation in organ donation assumed unless one “opts out” of the program. This is a diametric shift from the current process in which someone must “opt in” if they wish to be a donor. As citizens are asked to consider this new approach an immediate question must be asked, “How much do we know about the process of organ removal?” For example, many people are not aware that vital organs must be removed under the diagnosis of “brain death” to be viable for transplantation, but is brain death, death? The medical establishment since 1968 has asserted that it is, since that time other physicians have maintained that brain death is not death and that to remove vital organs from someone using the brain death diagnosis causes death and is immoral and unethical.

Are organ donors aware that the diagnosis of brain death varies? That it is possible to be considered dead in one institution and alive in another? Should the recent story of Rae Kupferschmidt, a woman from Lake Elmo, Minnesota who was declared brain dead in January and came home from the hospital February 13 cause us to take pause in our view of the end of life? Does the information that is made available at the DMV about organ donation include an explanation of the brain death diagnosis and its role in organ removal?

Dr. Byrne is Director of Pediatrics and Neonatology at the St. Charles Mercy Hospital of Oregon, Ohio and an opponent of brain death diagnosis. Dr. Byrne has been involved in providing information about the beginning and end of life for almost forty years. His credentials include:

• Writing an opposing viewpoint of brain death published in the Journal of the American Medical Association ("Brain Death-An Opposing View”- JAMA 1979; 242-.1985-90)
• Testifying before eight state legislatures concerning life issues
• Providing medical information to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences
• Authoring many articles and books on the topic of brain death
• Debated Jack Kevorkian on “Crossfire”
• Appeared on the BBC special “Are the Donors Really Dead?”
• Authored and produced the film, “Continuum of Life”

This program was held on Sunday, March 9 at the Delmarva Christian High School in the Draper Family Foundation Gymnasium at Delmarva Christian High School located at 21150 Airport Rd. in Georgetown, Delaware (Airport Road is off East Market Street). For more helpful reading on this topic we suggest:

(http://www.medpagetoday.com/Neurology/GeneralNeurology/tb/8026), (http://www.ksn.com/news/also/15640517.html), and (http://www.theundershepherd.com/?p=260).

• March 9, 2008
  I have broken the Audio into four tracks to make it more easier to listen to:
  • This Track is: Pastor Gary Knapp welcoming everyone to the program and opening with prayer. Next he Introduce some Special Guests, and then tells the Introduction about the Program for the night. Duration: 0:06:49
  • This Track is: Pastor Gary Knapp introducing Dr Paul Byrne and tells how they met. Duration: 0:03:19
  • This Track is: Dr. Paul Byrne Speaking about Brain Death and Organ Transplantation. Duration: 1:17:01
  • This Track is: Questions and Answers followed by Pastor Gary Knapp with some final thoughts. Duration: 0:49:50

• Here is the whole video of that night in it full form:


Duration: 2:18:30