Is presumed consent the answer to organ shortages? Yes

doi:10.1136/bmj.39199.475301.AD

BMJ 2007;334:1088 (26 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.39199.475301.AD

Feature

Head to head

Is presumed consent the answer to organ shortages? Yes

Veronica English, deputy head of medical ethics

British Medical Association, London WC1H 9JP

venglish@bma.org.uk

The supply of donor organs cannot keep up with demand. VeronicaEnglish argues that assuming people want to donate unless thereis contrary evidence will increase availability, but Linda Wrightbelieves the problem is more complex

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

In the UK in the year to 31 March 2007, 440 people died waitingfor a donated organ (UK Transplant, personal communication).At the same time bodies were buried or cremated intact—itseems likely that this was not because those people objectedto donating their organs but simply because they never got aroundto making their wishes known. Surveys show that 90% of the UKpopulation support organ donation,¹ yet our current law assumes,when people die, that they are in the minority who do not wishto donate. By changing the default position to presumed consent—assumingpeople want to donate unless there is evidence to the contrary—wecan help save and transform more lives while respecting thewishes of those who want to donate and protecting the rightsof those who do not.

Although 90% of the population support donation, only 23% haveregistered their wish to donate,² and . . . [Full text of this article]

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