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A Beating Heart Cadaver is a body that is pronounced brain-dead and connected to a medical ventilator which keeps the heart beating and other organs viable and functioning. The heart contains pacemaker cells that will cause the heart to continue beating even when a patient is brain-dead. Other organs in the body do not have this capability and need the brain to be functioning to send signals to the organs to carry out their functions. A beating heart cadaver requires a ventilator to provide oxygen to its blood, but the heart will continue to beat on its own even in the absence of brain activity. [2] This allows organs to be preserved for a longer period of time in the case of a transplant or donation. A small number of cases in recent years indicate that it can also be implemented for a brain-dead pregnant women to reach the full term of her pregnancy (Gross, 2003). There is an advantage to beating heart cadaver organ donation because doctors are able to see the vitals of the organs and tell if they are stable and functioning before transplanting to an ailing patient (Zamperetti, 2003). This is not possible in a donation from someone pronounced dead. There is a stigma around beating heart cadavers regarding the accuracy doctors have in pronouncing someone brain dead due to recent discoveries of brain activity in subjects that were classified as “brain-dead” (Saposnik, 2009). In addition, the organ donation world is desperate to widen its pool of donors to meet the ever increasing demand. This is due to the heightened rates of organ destroying diseases in recent years. As diseases progress, the functionality of organs is diminished and for some, a new organ is the only chance of survival. Heart disease, diabetes, and respiratory disease are among the leading causes of death worldwide and each condition could be cured if a new organ is received. However, some argue that using another person’s body purely as a means to an end, dehumanizes the patient (Bastami, 2013). The determination of brain death is still not an exact science with stories of spontaneous recovery of people thought to be brain dead tends to give the concept and the doctors responsible for diagnosis receive a negative social connotation.