BMJ  2007;335:634-635 (29 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.39349.483438.DB

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UK considers moving to system of presumed consent to transplantation

BMJ

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

The UK government is considering moving to a system where people will be presumed to have consented to the use of their organs for transplantation unless they have opted out.

The health secretary, Alan Johnson, has asked the organ donation task force to look at the ramifications of moving from the present "opt-in" system, in which organs can be used only if people have given their prior consent, to the sort of opt-out regime currently operating in some other countries, including Sweden and Austria.

The task force, set up in 2006 to look at barriers to organ donation, will examine the legal, ethical, practical, and medical issues, including whether the family of somebody who has died should be given the final say on organ donation. At present the family's consent is required unless the potential donor has signed up to the organ donor register or otherwise expressed a wish to . . . [Full text of this article]

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