Brain Death Protocol

This advisory report, compiled by the Brain Death Protocol Committee of the Health Council of the Netherlands, concerns an adjustment of the Brain Death Protocol referred to in Article 15 of the Dutch Organ Donation Act (Dutch acronym: WOD). According to prevailing medical insight this is the approach to be used for diagnosing brain death. Since the Health Council of the Netherlands issued its advisory report on brain death criteria in 1996, new scientific data have become available and new insights have arisen concerning brain death determination for the purposes of organ donation. The Committee is therefore of the opinion that various parts of the Brain Death Protocol, which is used nationally with respect to the Dutch Organ Donation Act, need to be adjusted.