Overview
- India’s top court directed AIIMS, New Delhi, to set up a three-member neurology panel to compare the apnea test with EEG and cerebral angiography for confirming brain-stem death, with recommendations due in a sealed report within two months.
- The bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Metha said doctors’ concerns about current practice appear credible and asked specialists to suggest updated, science-based protocols.
- The apnea test reduces or pauses ventilator support to see if a patient breathes on their own, which the petitioner argues can worsen brain injury and should not serve as the sole basis for declaring brain-stem death.
- The order follows a petition by Kerala doctor S. Ganapathy, who alleged wrongful brain-death certifications to enable organ harvesting and urged routine use of ancillary tests such as EEG and four-vessel cerebral angiography.
- The Kerala High Court closed his plea in 2017 after the state promised to perform and record every apnea test, but the Supreme Court has now sought an independent expert review that could change hospital procedures and strengthen transparency.