Having someone declared brain dead, whether one plans to use their organs for tranplant or not, is a very, very serious business...and I do believe, that every single care should be taken to make sure that a person really is brain dead, before declaring them to be such...I do think, that having two doctors, make the diagnosis of brain death, to be the wisest course to take...and that one of those doctors, should be a neurologist, or a neurosurgeon, someone who is especially trained to recognize a true brain death....and there is the need for the medical tests(Such as the EEG) to be done, to add credence to the physical exams of the brain dead person...all care should be taken, to make sure that when one is declared 'brain dead', that they are actually 'brain dead'...
My own son was declared 'brain dead', after a cerebral hemorrhage....and this was done after there were several medical tests being done, several physical exams, and several doctors agreeing upon that diagnosis...and in this case, there was also no chance, that someone was trying to declare him 'brain dead' in order to have his organs for transplant...because, you see, he had cancer, and no one with cancer, can donate their organs for transplant...so tho there was no chance at all that my sons organs would be used for transplant, still there was great care taken that the diagnosis was correct...my son was indeed brain dead, and our disconnecting his ventilator, in no way could have 'killed', him, as he was already dead...
But the comfort for us was that, knowing for sure that he was brain dead, we could disconnect him, and allow him to be buried, and not linger in a hospital bed, connected up to all sorts of gadgets, whose function for him, was now useless...
Thank you for always sharing your wisdom and experience a&mm.