Impact of presumed consent for organ donation on donation rates: a systematic review

Abstract

Objectives To examine the impact of a system of presumed consent for organ donation on donation rates and to review data on attitudes towards presumed consent. Design Systematic review.

Presumed consent for organ donation: illusion of a choice

“…27 In fact it is not presumed consent but a combination of other factors like investment in health care, infrastructure and manpower, availability of donors, public attitude and awareness on organ donation and transplantation that play an important role in increasing organ donation. 28 We need to draw lessons from the countries where this option did not work and need to be cautious with this coercive option as it may backlash the way our family planning programme did. The presumed consent in organ donation if adopted could meet the same fate as was met by national initiative on family planning during 1976-77 that eventually led to "forced sterilization" and brought unpardonable wrath of the common man.…”

Synthetic polymers enable non-vitreous cellular cryopreservation by reducing ice crystal growth during thawing

“…This is a particular problem during the sub-zero storage of biological material: cryopreservation. The need to cryopreserve donated cells, tissues and organs is an escalating problem because of the burgeoning demands of regenerative medicine and organ transplantation in an aging population 4,5 . For example, in the United Kingdom, 6,000 units of blood are required per day, but blood can only be stored effectively for 42 days without cryopreservation and in complex isotonic solutions 6 with unacceptable rates of haemolysis in simple isotonic solutions ( Supplementary Fig.…”

Lög um líffæragjafir á Íslandi: Er tímabært að taka upp ætlað samþykki?

“…3 Þetta er þó ekki auðvelt að meta því iðulega hefur verið ráðist í aðrar aðgerðir samhliða lagabreytingu. Engu að síður álíta margir að aetlað samþykki kunni að auðvelda aettingjum að samþykkja líffaeragjöf og hafi jákvaeð áhrif á viðhorf samfélagsins til þessa málefnis.…”