When is a person considered officially dead – and who gets to make the final call? These questions are still debatable, according to the Wall Street Journal.

For more than four decades, physicians have been able to declare a person brain-dead, even if their heart and lung activity can be maintained with machines. But lately, the determination of death has come under scrutiny as more families are challenging the determination of brain death in loved ones.

Last December, a group of lawyers as well as neurologists and philosophers from the Uniform Law Commission met to discuss potential revisions to the brain-death declaration. The party drafted uniform legislation for states on issues including child custody and estate planning. Now, it is up to states whether to adopt the commission’s recommendations, which could usually take up to 2 years.

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