Death

==== Problems in medical practice ====
Aside from the issue of support of or dispute against brain death, there is another inherent problem in this categorical definition: the variability of its application in medical practice. In 1995, the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) established the criteria that became the medical standard for diagnosing neurologic death. At that time, three clinical features had to be satisfied to determine "irreversible cessation" of the total brain, including coma with clear etiology, cessation of breathing, and lack of brainstem reflexes.<ref name="Bernat-2013">{{Cite journal|last=Bernat|first=James L.|date=March 2013|title=Controversies in defining and determining death in critical care|journal=Nature Reviews Neurology|volume=9|issue=3|pages=164–173|doi=10.1038/nrneurol.2013.12|pmid=23419370|s2cid=12296259|issn=1759-4766}}</ref> These criteria were updated again, most recently in 2010, but substantial discrepancies remain across hospitals and medical specialties.<ref name="Bernat-2013" />