Informed Consent for Apnea Testing in Brain Death Determination: Is It Necessary?

The May 2022 issue of the journal Chest includes a “point–counterpoint” debate on whether informed consent should be obtained for apnea testing in the determination of death. For our “Clinical Conversations” podcast, we asked two experts — Dr. Patricia Kritek and Dr. Robert Truog — to debate this controversial topic informally. Dr. Kritek is an Associate Editor for NEJM Journal Watch General Medicine, a Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington, and an adult intensive care physician. Dr. Truog is a Professor of Anesthesia, a pediatric intensive care physician at Harvard Medical School, and director of the Harvard Center for Bioethics. The podcast can be accessed in the player below.