13503. THE SOCIAL DEFINITIONS OF DEATH IN AMERICA. Moving from the assumption that life and death are socially defined, this report considers how death is organized and debated within American culture and in the context of the U.S. healthcare system. Argues that U.S. society presents an ambiguous view of death which tends to discourage individual's direct confrontations with death’s inevitability. 7 pages, 19 footnotes, 9 bibliographic sources.