Havana and the Coma and Death Symposia
http://www.100md.com
《新英格兰医药杂志》
To the Editor: The city of Havana, Cuba, welcomed colleagues from every continent for the First (1992), Second (1996), and Third (2000) International Symposia on Coma and Death. The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control decided to prohibit almost 100 American scholars from attending the fourth symposium, which was held March 9 through 12, 2004.
Since 1992, internationally known American scholars have legally attended the symposia, held every four years: 25 attended in 1992, 31 in 1996, and 54 in 2000. Two important books have emerged from these conferences.1,2
When we invited our colleagues to attend the Fourth International Symposium on Coma and Death, we expected to welcome close to 100 professors from the United States. At the last minute, all American scientists were forbidden to attend our conference, and we had to rearrange the program during the weekend. Nonetheless, the meeting was a success.2
We expect that sooner rather than later, science will again provide a bridge between our people to remind us that "any motivation to ever deepen our knowledge about human death (and life) is a matter of human dignity."2 Then, we will again welcome our American colleagues and friends.
Calixto Machado, M.D., Ph.D.
Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery
Havana 10400, Cuba
braind@infomed.sld.cu
References
Machado C, ed. Brain death: proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Brain Death. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science BV, 1995.
Machado C, Shewmon DA, eds. Brain death and disorders of consciousness. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 2004.
Since 1992, internationally known American scholars have legally attended the symposia, held every four years: 25 attended in 1992, 31 in 1996, and 54 in 2000. Two important books have emerged from these conferences.1,2
When we invited our colleagues to attend the Fourth International Symposium on Coma and Death, we expected to welcome close to 100 professors from the United States. At the last minute, all American scientists were forbidden to attend our conference, and we had to rearrange the program during the weekend. Nonetheless, the meeting was a success.2
We expect that sooner rather than later, science will again provide a bridge between our people to remind us that "any motivation to ever deepen our knowledge about human death (and life) is a matter of human dignity."2 Then, we will again welcome our American colleagues and friends.
Calixto Machado, M.D., Ph.D.
Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery
Havana 10400, Cuba
braind@infomed.sld.cu
References
Machado C, ed. Brain death: proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Brain Death. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science BV, 1995.
Machado C, Shewmon DA, eds. Brain death and disorders of consciousness. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 2004.