Brain Death vs True Death
Dr. Paul A. Byrne, M.D., speaking about brain death vs. true death. -SVT Photo by Tami Stevenson
Dr. Byrne is hoping to either replace or modify the Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA) and the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (UAGA). He is an advocate for the organ donor, revealing the harsh treatment organ donor patients labeled “brain dead” undergo before the organs are harvested and confessing that the organ donor must actually be alive when the organs are taken or they would not be able to use them.
By Tami Stevenson
On Saturday, October 18, during their regular meeting, American Patriots Of North Florida welcomed Dr. Paul A. Byrne, M.D., who spoke on the topic, Brain Death vs. True Death.
Dr. Byrne is a board certified neonatologist, a pediatrician and is the past president of the Catholic Medical Association and clinical professor of pediatrics president for the Life Guardian Foundation; he produced a film called Continuum of Life; is the author of several books and journal articles and has presented testimony on life and death issues to nine state legislatures. He has appeared on Good Morning America, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) documentary and other programs.
It all began in 1963.
Dr. Byrne worked at a children’s hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. He said, “Every baby that had trouble breathing, weighing 3 or 4 pounds or less, was 100 percent mortality.”
Byrne helped to found the field of neonatology and was significant in helping to invent the ventilator for premature babies.
Then came Joseph in 1968.
Joseph was born prematurely and put on a ventilator. After a couple weeks, Joseph wasn’t moving so they conducted a brain wave test. The test came back consistent with cerebral death. (They no longer conduct brain wave tests to determine if a person is “brain dead” for the apnea test, according to Byrne).
Death was written on Joseph’s chart. The test was repeated, it was unchanged. So it was suggested they stop treating Joseph, but Byrne refused. Because of that refusal, Joseph went on to heal and grew up to lead a normal life. He showed a photo of Joseph in 1975, riding his bike at age seven. Eventually he married and now is the father of three children. There were many more successful cases Byrne talked about as well.
“But because of Joseph having ‘death’ written on his chart, that made me go investigate it,” Byrne said. He began studying the language of the term ‘brain death’ and published his first article about the subject in 1977. He published another in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1979.
During the meeting he talked about how God created everything and all of us, that there is a physical and spiritual side to human beings, the soul and the body. “The moment your soul leaves your body, the body is dead, no heartbeat, no circulation, no brain activity,” he said. That is true death.
“In order to be declared ‘brain dead,’ you have to be on a ventilator. All a ventilator does is deliver the air, that’s it. It doesn’t expel the carbon dioxide.”
He explained that the apnea test is done on a patient who is on a ventilator, not to be confused with a sleep apnea test. They disconnect the ventilator for up to 10 minutes to see if the patient can breathe on their own. They do not use any technology to detect brainwaves or anything else, doctors check to see if they can detect the person is breathing by simply looking at the patient to see if they are breathing deep enough to visibly see them take a breath, if not, they can declare them “brain dead” and lawfully use them as an organ donor unless a refusal has been signed. Dr. Byrne recommends the form is notarized and presented at the time the patient is admitted to a hospital.
“What happens during that time when they take the ventilator away? We think of breathing, we only think of the air going in, but we also exhale carbon dioxide and if it’s not expelled (during the time the ventilator is disconnected) it accumulates, it makes acid products (acidoses) that only makes the patient get worse,” said Dr. Byrne. Now the body has to fight that as well as try to heal. According to health sources, this can slim their chances for recovery and even become the cause of death.
Byrne says, the apnea test does no good for the patient (it’s more about the patient becoming a donor). “So please learn from our discussion today, say ‘No’ to the apnea test.”
He also explained that everyone who is labeled “brain dead” is alive. They are on a ventilator and they have a beating heart, circulation and can digest food. They fight infection, get a fever and when cut into to take organs, the heart rate and blood pressure increase. But “Brain death”/Neurological criteria consider all these as not relevant to being alive. Byrne said, “None of these happen to a cadaver. Brain death is not death.”
He showed a video of a “brain dead” patient being cut open, revealing his beating heart just before they removed it.
According to the literature he provided at the meeting, from the Life Guardian Foundation, ages 0 - 30’s are most at risk of being targeted for becoming an ‘organ donor’ because their organs are prime at those ages.
He spoke about the subtle changes to the laws over the years concerning the “Brain Death” languaging. Byrne pointed out that many people are unaware that today, all persons can now be presumed organ donors unless they or their relatives/guardians have a notarized statement declaring to doctors/hospitals - do not perform an apnea test and do not take any organ for transplantation or any other purpose.
The Life Guardian Foundation booklet / Facts about being an Organ Donor - What you don’t know can KILL YOU, had forms in the back for people to use and have notarized.
The booklet states that once “brain death” or “cardiac death’ has been verified, the organ donor undergoes hours, sometimes days, of excruciatingly painful and ongoing chemical treatment in preparation for organ excision.
The “donor” is now, literally, an organ warehouse and used for the sole purpose of organ preservation until a compatible recipient can be located.
During these operations, it is well documented that the heart rate and blood pressure go up when the incision is made. This is the very response the anesthesiologist often observes in everyday surgery when the anesthetic is insufficient. In a number of countries, including the United States, organ donors are not anesthetized.
The literature also stated that there are growing numbers of protests among nurses and anesthesiologists, who react strongly to the movements of the supposed “corpse.” These movements are sometimes so violent it makes it impossible to continue the taking of organs. Resulting from their personal experiences and attestations of others, many in the medical profession have removed themselves from this program altogether and/or are having second thoughts about the donor being truly dead. For this reason, donors are now given a paralyzing agent before organ removal begins.
According to Access Medicine, paralyzing agents do not relieve pain or anxiety and have no sedative or amnestic effects.
According to the National Library of Medicine, in 2024 the United States, for the first time, performed more than 48,000 organ transplants in one year. On average, the U.S. performed 132 transplants a day in 2024. That equates to billions of dollars for the medical industry.
The neurological criteria for brain death is (supposed to be) the absence of response to painful stimulus, absence of some brainstem reflexes, apnea test, EEG is not required and (evidence of) destruction of the brain is not required.
More information on this subject is available at lifeguardianfoundation.org.
When Dr. Byrne was finished, he had a time for question and answer. One of the attendees said he grew up in the same neighborhood as Joseph. He knew him and his mother. “They said he was a miracle baby,” he said. He even remembered the bike Joseph was riding in the photo Byrne shared.
American Patriot President Virginia Smith introducing Dr. Byrne to the audience. -SVT Photo by Tami Stevenson
