Ronald Cranford and John Markert on brain death

July 12, 1978 - Dr. Ronald Cranford, of Hennepin County Medical Center; and Mr. John Markert, the Executive Director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference, discuss the concept of brain death, and the problems in defining death. Both men have testified before the Minnesota legislature on the brain death issue, and Dr. Cranford was a consultant on the recent Stacey Ellison case in St. Paul in which the child was "brain dead" though still breathing with the help of a respirator. Cranford has been active in work to arrive at a definition of death. John Markert has opposed efforts to allow the use of brain death as a legal definition for determining when life has ended.