Organ Donation, Presumed Consent.

[sapelesam]

As the Government discuss changing the law regarding organ donation, are you for or against presumed consent. I have always carried a donor card and am registered, after my death they can have what ever they want. I can see a great benefit to ethnic minorities who are woefully under represented on the register. Can the health service afford all the extra transplants that will now be possible. A few points there, very interested in AB'ers views.

[marval]

I am all for this, if it is presumed consent then more lives will be saved. Also the grieving relatives don't have to make the difficult decision.

[hc4361]

sunny-dave, it is a sad fact that we all have to die at some point but to wish a stranger would 'hurry up and die' so that a loved one may live is abhorrent to many.

My father was on the donor register for years but he refused to consider a transplant when he became ill and would not be persuaded.

We must all have the right to make our own decisions about these matters and if somebody has opted out of presumed consent and the paperwork goes missing it could be too late to stop the organ harvesting.

[sunny-dave]

I would never deny anyone the right to have full control over the use (or not) of their body after their death - to do so would be abhorrent to me.

I just feel that people need to make a decision on these matters (not just avoid the subject) and should also be aware that decisions can have consequences.

[sevenOP]

https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/register-to-donate/refuse-to-donate/refuse-donation-form/

[hc4361]

The hardest decision about organ donation is the one made by the doctors - who should receive the organ(s)?

[gness]

That is quite hurtful, Hc.....not one of us wishes someone will hurry up and die so we or a family member can live and be well.....
As you wait for the phone call you are always aware that for it to come somebody will have died.....and when you get the transplant all your joy is tinged with the sadness that a family is hurting.......and that feeling never ever leaves you.

[hc4361]

I didn't mean to be hurtful, gness, but that is how some people view organ transplants.

[hc4361]

Things are improving though, with living donors. Anyone can donate a kidney (we only need one) or a bit of their liver if they are assessed as physically and mentally fit enough.
More of us need to think about this option.

[douglas9401]

There is a chance that everybody is different and each viewpoint is as valid as the next.
I suppose I'm just grateful that if a decision is made in my life it won't involve the elite of internet commentators holding forth in the usual way.

[gness]

Then they need to educate themselves about it, Hc.....and not just assume.....
Before going on the transplant list we both investigated every side of it thoroughly.....

And I really can't understand these hyperbolic "state taking control" comments....we are being given more control by having the opt out system.....
We will have the opportunity to decide and discuss and then take the path we wish to have happen when we die.
We won't have families making awful decisions at a bad time or bickering over....would he/she want this.....

[hc4361]

They may do, douglas, who knows? If you haven't let your loved one know what you want, then they may be asking for advice on AB many years from now

[Mamyalynne]

I'll make my own decision without lambasting anyone else's choices.

I have a very dear friend on the transplant list, I fear she will not be well enough much longer to actually survive one.

[hc4361]

My family won't have to make any decisions about it on my behalf - I am on the register, have a living will and my whole family know my wishes.
That is me having control of my body.

[woofgang]

I am pro donation for people who wish it. What I mind is the government involvement here and the weasel words being used. This is not "presumed consent", this is "silence for consent" which is not the same. I also wonder about the "back of the queue" idea..... I was a blood donor for around 25 years. I ended up being told I had to stop because when I got the menopause I used to pass out at the end of donation so I was politely told my services were no longer required.....so how much blood equals a kidney? a heart? Because you don't just need the organ to effect a transplant. If someone has only committed to allow certain organs but not all, will you allow them an organ they have not committed to donate?
I do agree that its an important thing for people to talk to their families about but I do not agree with this kind of official co-ercion....and as I said John Prescott's comment about organs being a national resource still leaves a nasty taste in my mouth.

[woofgang]

gness, the opt out register already exists.

[woofgang]

hc I did think about being a living donor. Had my husband survived to the point where he could have accepted it, I was going to give him one of my kidneys if we had been compatible.

[Ellipsis]

Calling it "presumed consent" is biased in favour of it.

For example, it could just as easily be called "presumed ownership" and that casts it in a different light.

[hc4361]

A big decision, woofgang. More people are donating to total strangers than spouses because it is so unlikely that a couple are going to be a match but many more living donors are needed.
If my liver or kidney is fit for transplant when I retire from work I will seriously consider it.

[RobNorth]

This is far too complex a subject to be addressed by Government decree like tax. Governments and other large organisations can only function because they are basically stupid and don't do emotion, like machines.
When it comes to a very emotive subject like this, great delicacy is needed and I tend to agree with Kvalidir when he says we have things about right as they are.
I have a donor card but I wouldn't expect others to carry one, any more than I would expect them to be creating life by procreating or expect them not to have abortions - these are very personal things that are not to be resolved by committee.

[woofgang]

I agree hc...I would also have been willing to join in a chain donation. As things stand now, my family responsibilities would not allow it.