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Brain death somehow being co-mingled or confused with things like coma or vegetative state is not only a problem, it's potentially dangerous. this to me was pretty clear. and i think to the doctors who were even caring for this patient, marlise, it was clear to them as well. you can't provide life-sustaining treatment to someone who is dead. and i think the term brain death -- >> what about the fetus? >> the patient is this woman who is brain-dead. and maybe the term brain death itself has just become a bad term. it's just confused people too much. it's confusing. >> we should just say the per...

Matter. people often comingle the word coma, vegetative state and brain dead. that are different situations. with brain death, as you mentioned, every state in the united states, that is the definition of death. so when they talk about trying to provide life sustaining treatment to a woman because she's pregnant, that isn't possible in this situation. you cannot sustain life. >> sanjay, what is the life expectancy of a baby born with this fluid in the brain? >> it's hard to know. depending on what stage it developed, how long it's been there, it can be very different. there are people who deve...

Could decide the fate of this brain dead woman's unborn baby, now that her husband is suing to have her removed from the machines that keep the fetus alive. according to the woman's family, doctors declared her brain dead after she collapsed nearly two months ago. at the time she was 14 weeks pregnant. officials say the law in texas is perfectly clear, and i quote, a person may not withdraw or withhold life sustaining treatment from a pregnant patient. but the family's lawsuit claims that breathing machines are not life sustaining because the patient is all right dead and has been dead for mon...

Test its health and viability? >> as a general guideline, doctors talk about around 23 or 24 weeks of gestation before a fetus is what is known as viable. able to live outside of the womb, outside of the uterus. that's a general guideline. before that it's really hard to know much more. even with regard to brain death in adults, a lot of it's a clinical exam, being able to kpa t examine the patient. with the fetus you could do scans, ultrasounds. if the brain had had a period of time without blood flow, you may be seeing signs on those imaging that the brain's not developing properly. but beyo...

Doctors talk about around 23 or 24 weeks of gestation before a fetus is what is known as viable. able to live outside of the womb, outside of the uterus. that's a general guideline. before that it's really hard to know much more. even with regard to brain death in adults, a lot of it's a clinical exam, being able to examine the patient. with the fetus you could do scans, ultrasounds. if the brain had had a period of time without blood flow, you may be seeing signs on those imaging that the brain's not developing properly. but beyond that it's very hard to say for sure that in fact what has hap...