In Re the Welfare of Bowman

This is an appeal by the guardian ad litem appointed for William Matthew Bowman (Matthew) prior to Matthew's death, from the decision of the Snohomish County Superior Court ruling that because he had suffered irreversible loss of brain activity, he was in fact dead on October 17, 1979. Issues raised on appeal are: (1) whether law or medicine should define the standards establishing when death occurs; (2) if law is to define those standards, should the brain death standard be adopted; and (3) if that standard is adopted, what role should medicine have in defining the criteria for determining…