Index - B

Baby boomer demographic, 135

"Baby Doe" rules, 48-49

Baby Jane Doe case, 49-50

Balanced Budget Act of 1997, 120

Barber v. Superior Court of the State of California, 105

Belgium, 78

Beliefs about death
     afterlife, 151, 152f
     ancient times, 1
     brain death determination and, 9
     classical period, 1-2
     Eastern Orthodox Church, 13-14
     Eighteenth century, 2
     fear of death, 2
     Middle Ages, 2
     modern age, 3-6
     Nineteenth century, 3
     Renaissance, 2
     Roman Catholicism, 13-14
     spiritualism, 3
     youth, 151-152, 153f

Biblical teachings, 13

Bioethics. See Ethics

Birth defects
     anencephaly, 43, 48(t 5.5)
     Birth Defects Prevention Act, 45
      costs of caring for children with, 45-47
     Down's Syndrome, 44-45
     neural tube defects (NTDs), 43-44
     overview, 42-43
     spina bifida, 44, 48(t 5.6)

Birth Defects Prevention Act, 45

Black/African Americans
     cancer incidence and mortality rates by site, 143t
     cerebrovascular diseases, death rates for, 144t-145t
     death rates for heart diseases, 139t-141t
     hospice care discharges by length of stay, 5t
     infant mortality, 41-42, 42t-43t, 44t, 45t, 46t-47t
     low birthweight infants, 49t-50t, 51t-53t, 54t
     Medicaid recipients and vendor payment by eligibility basis, 122t
     nursing home residents, 126t
     premature infants, 49t-50t
     suicide rates, 58t-60t

Black Death, 2

Brain, parts of the, 10f

Brain death, 8-10, 30
     See also Persistent vegetative state (PVS)

Brophy, Patricia, 105

Brophy v. New England Sinai Hospital, Inc., 105-106

Buddhism, 15-16

Bush, George W., 118

Bush, Jeb, 111

Byock, Ira, 4