The Kansas Statute on Death — An Appraisal

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Abstract
The State of Kansas has taken the first step in the common-law world to enact into law a definition of death. There are conflicting opinions on whether it is desirable to legislate in what is a fast moving area, particularly because legislation has a tendency to retard development in the law. A strong argument exists for leaving the matter to be developed by the courts with the co-operation of the medical profession. Given the Kansas Statute, several criticisms can be raised against it. It is too biased toward facilitating transplant surgery, ignoring the fact that most problems relate to other dying patients. Legislating for what appear to be alternative definitions of death could harm public respect for medicine. World opinion is ignored by not building into the law such safeguards as requiring two physicians to announce death, and the separation of these from the transplant team. For these reasons statutes such as the Kansas one may prove to be counter-productive.