The Determination of Death under Polish Law in Comparative, Historical and Medical Perspective

Abstract

It has been recently adopted under Polish law that the determinant of death is both the brain death criterion, tantamount to the permanent and irreversible cessation of its function, and the equally valid circulatory criterion. This means that the determination of brain death is not indispensable to pronounce a person dead, because the irreversible cessation of circulation is sufficient in this respect. The purpose of this article is to present current developments in Polish law against the comparative, historical and medical background.

Polish regulatory system regarding ATMP hospital exemptions

“…It may be conducted if the medical methods used so far are ineffective or not sufficiently effective" (29,30). It must be emphasized that the law provides for many obligations related to the commencement of a therapeutic experiment by a doctor, for instance: appropriate purpose of the experiment; appropriate qualifications and proper specialization of the doctor conducting experiment; obtaining informed consent from the patient; and obtaining positive opinion on the therapeutic experiment from a proper Bioethics Committee (35)(36)(37).…”