9 Things to Know about Reviving the Recently Dead

July 30, 2014

(Wired) – Casarett is enthusiastic about the emerging technologies that are allowing doctors to save patients who would have been a lost cause in the very recent past. But these technologies come at a cost, he writes. They may restore life, but whether it’s a life worth living is another matter. As inspired as he was by Funk’s near-miraculous revival, Casarett has also seen heartbreaking cases in which patients were revived with heroic efforts—only to languish, unresponsive, in an ICU for weeks while their families agonize over how long to maintain life support.