Is presumed consent the answer to organ shortages? Yes

The impact of presumed consent laws and institutions on deceased organ donation

“…Without taking into account of the potential remaining factors, presumed consent countries exhibit 3.5 percent higher deceased donation rates on average, compared to informed consent countries. 8 The likelihood of medically becoming a donor is greater for individuals who have been exposed to situations in which irreversible brain injury resulting in brain death is more likely. Consequently, given medical compatibility, victims of motor vehicle accidents, assault and cerebro vascular diseases are suitable candidates for transplantation.…”

“…The third stage allows for computing the correct standard errors of the parameters of (almost) time-invariant variables. 8 In the absence of country-specific effects and other explanatory factors, Abadie and Gay [1] found that the impact of presumed consent on deceased donation rates is much higher, around 15 percent on average once the year fixed effects have been accounted for. The reason is that without country-specific effects, the consent legislation variable soaks up most of the explanatory power of the unobserved heterogeneity and shows a higher-than-otherwise impact of presumed consent laws.…”

“…In a recent report, the British Medical Association (BMA) expressed their support for a ''soft'' presumed consent system with safeguards in the UK which continues to involve the family [8]. The empirical evidence presented concurs with the BMA's view of a system of ''soft'' presumed consent and it might be effective in controlling organ shortages, provided that families are not ruled out of the decision-making process in the transition period and a combined registry is established in order to respect both opponents' and advocates' views toward donation.…”

Consent for Organ Retrieval Cannot be Presumed

“…Several countries in Europe have already enacted a presumed consent policy regarding organ procurement, such that if a potential donor has not explicitly opted-out then it is presumed that she would have wanted to become a donor and organs are retrieved. 11 There have been recent renewals to the call for enacting a policy of presumed consent in order to increase the supply of donated organs (English, 2007). 12 In order to evaluate this proposal, we'll need to have some understanding of what must be the case in order for a presumption of consent to be justified.…”

Easy Rescues and Organ Transplantation

“…Rather than presuming consent, an optout system of participation in organ transplantation, when there is a default duty to participate, expresses a presumption of participation in transplantation (Erin & Harris, 1999). The ability to opt-out of participation in organ transplantation will remain essential for those for whom transplantation is not a duty (English, 2007). This option serves to recognize that participation in organ transplantation is a defeasible default duty.…”