Redefining 'death': Organ transplants, donation may get a legal nudge

The government is considering changing the definition of "death" in the law on organ transplants. The proposed change is in the wake of an acute shortage of harvestable organs for transplantation, Livemint reported.

At present, in line with the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, doctors harvest organs from a patient who is declared brain stem cell dead. 

If a patient dies of natural causes, organs also stop working but in the case of brain death, the death certificate mentions the vital organs that are alive, like the heart, lungs, etc. Due to this, the patient's family thinks that