POINT OF DEATH

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31754, 10 August 1968, Page 13

POINT OF DEATH

‘Guidelines’ Adopted

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) SYDNEY, August 9.

The World Medical Assembly which ends in Sydney today ratified a statement on death put forward by the assembly’s ethics committee. The president of the World Medical Association, Sir Leonard Mallen (Adelaide) described the statement as giving “clear enough guidelines to physicians” to assist them in determining the point of death.

He said it would be impossible actually to define the precise point of death, but a list of criteria would be added to the statement at the world assembly in Paris next year. The major point of the statement is that in the case of a transplant operation, two or more physicians should make the decision determining the death of the donor, but should not be immediately connected with the performance of the operation.

The assembly also adopted an ethics committee recommendation that a doctor should keep secret all that he knows about a patient, even after the patient's death.

Papuan Artifacts Protected. —A law to protect Papuan and New Guinean artifacts from exploitation and destruction came into force today, aimed at arresting the decline of the rich native art in many areas of the territory.—Port Moresby, August 9.