Sir

Your Editorial's call for serious discussion of laws governing the diagnosis of death (Nature 461, 570; 2009) is most welcome, if long overdue. It is imperative that those involved in the practice of transplantation know the status of organ donors. And it is high time that those offering their organs for transplant — “after my death” are the words on NHS Organ Donor Register application forms — are clearly and fairly informed about the state they will be in if their offer is taken up.

In the United Kingdom, 'death' is still being certified for that purpose on the basis of purely bedside tests of some brainstem functions. There has never been sound scientific support for this standard, and it was declared “clinically dangerous” in a report by the US President's Council on Bioethics last year (see http://go.nature.com/58y3DP).

As you assert, few things are as sensitive as death. Its certain diagnosis is surely of such importance that it should be addressed without concern for dependent interests.