New Release
by Heidi Klessig MD
The Brain Death Fallacy - October 16 2023
Dr. Heidi Klessig
The Back Cover:
In 1968, a committee at Harvard Medical School redefined comatose people on a ventilator as dead. This redefinition of death was introduced in 1981 as a model law referred to as the Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA). Now, “brain death” has become codified as a law that defines death in the United States. However, is brain death death?
Dr. Heidi Klessig traces the history of the diagnosis from its beginnings to the passage of the UDDA and more recent attempts to loosen the law further. For the most part, the public is unaware of this ongoing debate, but it impacts them directly after a loved one has a head injury and requires a ventilator. This book is built on the clinical work and academic research of medical doctors, philosophers, and scholars who do not accept the UDDA definition of brain death as death and are experts in this field of study.
Christopher W. Bogosh RN-BC
Those who know Dr. Paul A. Byrne will identify the two hands gently clasping that tiny baby on the book’s cover as his. The picture speaks volumes about Dr. Byrne as a defender of life. After graduating from medical school and becoming a pediatrician, Dr. Byrne became a pioneering neonatologist in the 1960s. His work in neonatology improved the practice of medicine worldwide. However, it would be his conviction to defend life that would become his all-consuming passion. In 1975, Dr. Byrne treated Joseph, a prematurely born baby, who was declared brain dead but was alive and even eventually made a full recovery. Joseph motivated Dr. Byrne to begin the long battle to oppose brain death as a definition of death in the United States. The author, who has been a pro-life laborer with Dr. Byrne throughout the years, has set Dr. Byrne’s life story in the genre of creative non-fiction to engage the reader. Then, with his experience as an editor and writer of numerous books and articles about history, theology, philosophy, and medicine, the author weaves Dr. Byrne’s biography and experiences with influential writings he published throughout his life.
Christopher W. Bogosh RN-BC
Life is a narrative built on history and rooted in guiding authorities—it’s a story. In 1968 doctors at Harvard Medical School took the first step to redefine death, not based on the biological facts of life, but on a narrative that would permit the harvesting of organs from people in a coma with objective signs of life. In 1981 the new story was codified as federal law in the Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA). Christians who believe life starts at conception are often unaware of how the modern account of death undermines their pro-life convictions and the Creator's story revealed in the Old and New Testaments.
Harvesting Organs & Cherishing Life: What Christians Need to Know About Organ Donation and Procurement– June 8, 2021
Christopher W. Bogosh RN-BC
Heidi T. Klessig MD
The authors of Harvesting Organs & Cherishing Life do not oppose organ donation and transplants; instead, they propose a view that does not violate the Law of God. Their abundant and verifiable examples of the dark side of organ harvesting will be repulsive, even horrifying to some. Their explanation of human death not only corrects the modern brain death error but exalts the victory of Jesus Christ over death. You cannot read this book and remain indifferent to the authors’ arguments. --Jeff Pollard General Editor of Free Grace Broadcaster and Pastor of Mt. Zion Bible Church
Dying and Death: Getting Rightly Prepared for the Inevitable – October 15, 2018
Joel R. Beeke PhD
Christopher W. Bogosh RN-BC
Can any good come from thinking about death? Our natural tendency is to answer that question no! But what if our meditation on death was informed by a theological understanding of death, a recognition of the comfort Jesus's death affords Christians, and ethical guidance for dealing with death in these complicated days of modern medical developments? Rather than being morbidly unhelpful, authors Joel R. Beeke and Christopher W. Bogosh contend that meditating on dying and death can be profitable, even necessary, for us. Are you prepared to say that your death will be "gain" (Phil. 1:21)?
Modern Medicine's Definition of Death: Ethical Implications for Christians – April 20, 2017
Christopher W. Bogosh RN-BC
Do you believe you have a soul? Do you believe life begins at conception? Do you believe a person with a beating heart is alive? Do you believe in a line separating life from death? In 1980, modern medicine cast a shadow of doubt on all these questions by establishing a new standard to define death, one commonly referred to as brain death, which now has legal status in the United States. Modern Medicine’s Definition of Death shows how this redefinition evolved in the West, its inherent inconsistencies, and the challenges it poses to Christians; and then it moves on to present a Christ-centered, traditional, and biblical approach to encourage Christians to bold belief and faithful practice, whether “in life or death.”