A Conversation for Transplantation - a Summary
opt in or opt out of donation
tom Started conversation Oct 20, 2001
I've carried a donor card for over 30 yr. Never been used yet 
but the mindset is that you have to opt *in* to being a donor.
My family know (and share) my views (basically - you can't take it with you and it takes some of the pointlessness of the loss) so I don't think there would be a problem should the need arise.
But not all agree and a family can say no whatever the card says or may not be contactable.
Some have argued then that you should be considered to have agreed unless you carry a card saying "no". This means that Drs would be able to take an organ without permission and the family might be told of it only after. The addition of that to the grief over the sudden loss of a (usually) young person would be considerable.
The recent upset about baby postmortems isn't absoloutely relevant as the removal was not explained till many years after but I'm still not convinced.
I saw in the press that one European country was planning to go over to the Opt Out system. Is there anyone here with first hand knowlege?
Key: Complain about this post
opt in or opt out of donation
More Conversations for Transplantation - a Summary
Write an Entry
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book. It has been compiled and recompiled many times and under many different editorships. It contains contributions from countless numbers of travellers and researchers."