Is presumed consent the answer to organ shortages? Yes

Until fairly recently, the definition of death was cardiopulmonary
death, not
brain death. There is a vast suspicion that doctors will take organs from
those
who are not "really dead"--this suspicion will seem to be confirmed if
the heart
is still beating and there appears to be undue haste to harvest the
organs.

The public needs to be educated on what "brain dead" means, the
difference
between brain death and a coma, the need for speed in removal of the
organs,
and most important, the criteria that must be met to confirm that someone
is
indeed "dead" before organs will be removed.

Competing interests:
None declared