Scotland Ponders Presumed Consent for Organ Donation
Every year patients in the United States and around the world die while they wait on organ transplant lists for organs that never become available.
While surveys indicate a majority of people are willing to donate organs after their death, a much lower percentage actually get around to registering as an organ donor.
Now Scotland is considering a measure to help close that gap.
MSP George Foulkes is proposing the Scotland Parliament adopt a policy known as presumed consent for organ donation. This means that Scotland’s National Health Service would automatically treat every deceased citizen as a potential organ donor unless the individual formally opt outs in advance.
Currently, both the US and Scotland require written authorization from the patient or their next of kin before organs or tissue can be harvested. If consent cannot be obtained while the organs are still viable, the opportunity for obtaining transplant organs is lost.
MSP Foulkes would like to see Scotland implement a presumed consent policy by the end of 2008. In the meantime, he is encouraging the country’s citizens to sign up on the NHS organ donor registry. As he explained,
“I understand that people don’t like to think of their own death, but by signing the register they are committing to giving life and that I hope is what will motivate people to sign up and give something back.”
Baron George Foulkes
Lothians MSP
If you live in the United States and you’d like some tips on how to make your own organ donation preferences known, you can visit the Aging With Dignity web site at www.agingwithdignity.org. Hospice workers and other caregivers who assist late-stage cancer patients and others make final arrangements can also order useful support materials there.
Source: BBC News
Related Links: National Cancer Institute (NCI); British Medical Association (BMA); United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS); Scotsman.com; Children’s Organ Transplant Association; National Association for Home Care & Hospice; FOXNews.com
Related Podcast – Organ Donation: Opportunities for Action from the National Academies Press
Tags: advance directives; public health policy; organ procurement
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