There is currently an international issues with organ shortage, and this low supply of viable organs places a stress on the typically high demand of organ transplants. Organ transplantation is especially significant as it remains the most cost-efficient clinical solution for end-stage organ failure. Many qualified organ donations are unable to donate due to the requirement of consent from the deceased organ donation. Past policies for improving organ donation consent percentages involved providing donor-eligible patients with the option of organ donation and gathering first-person authorization. With first-person authorization, organ donation can occur without family consent as long as the deceased has registered themselves as a donor on their driver’s license, donor card, or the donor registry. Early or preemptive transplants are significant for patients suffering from kidney disease for patients by reducing transplant rejection and improving quality of life. Although first-person authorization increased the proportion of recovered donors, there difficulties in getting consent remains a barrier against organ donation.
With this in mind, the concept of “presumed consent” has been established to increase organ donation rates. Countries such as England, Scotland, Chile, and Finland have all implemented presumed consent in the past few years. An individual’s kidney, liver, cornea, and heart are the organs that can be obtained from these deceased donors. In compliance with ethical guidelines, these countries have allowed for patients to opt-out of organ donation to ensure complete ownership to their organs. Unfortunately, this opt-out system has a potential to sway patients toward rejecting donation as both the patient and patient’s family members see such a decision as too overwhelming during a time of extreme distress.
Organ Donation
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A multiethnic study performed by Muthiah et al. reported low organ donation rates despite the implementation of presumed consent. As outlined by the authors, a more concrete resolution to increasing organ donation rates can be linked to improved public education and transplant facilities. These improvements can also be supplemented with increased sensitivity towards family members and patients have to emotionally prepare for such a significant decision. Before presumed consent can be fully implemented, there must be a considerable increase in organ donations as well as improvement in ethical guidelines.
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