Yet another piece of new legislation which came into force on 1 January this year is a new requirement that if you do not wish your organs to be used for transplants after your death you need to opt out. It is a reversal of the previous opt in system, which people simply never got round to and which was resulting in a tragic shortage of donor organs.
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| Air ambulance at Poitiers Hospital. |
Frustratingly, with opt in systems, the block is not the wishes of the dead individual, who most likely had not taken the necessary steps to indicate clearly that they would allow their organs to be used, but the wishes of their relatives, who could withhold permission and in a third of cases, did so.
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| CHU de Poitiers (University Hospital Poitiers). |
In the EU, 16 people a day die waiting for organ transplants.
3 comments:
Thank goodness for this change. Having recently lost my parents, I can imagine how devastating it is when the person on life support is there suddenly--having been healthy just before. Wishing it weren't so and not being able to deal with such decisions as organ donation is normal for family. Even as my 90-year-old mother lay dying, with clear directives for no extraordinary measures, "no tubes," one brother fought with doctors to do more. He didn't have power of attorney and didn't change the care, but it shows how emotions get in the way.
My neighbor just got a kidney transplant; she had a congenital defect, not diabetes. Not yet 40, mother of two. Somebody's loss saved her life, and her family's, really.
I agree heartily with francetaste.
Indeed, you never know how you will react to these sorts of events until they happen. Sometimes it's a real surprise how you do or don't deal with it.
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