Presumed Consent Wouldn't Boost U.S. Organ Donation: Study

US News & World Report

(HealthDay News) -- It's not likely that a policy of presumed consent would solve the shortage of transplant organs in the United States, according to a new study.

Under such a system, doctors would presume a person's willingness to donate their organs after death unless they explicitly forbid it while they're alive. Those in favor of this type of opt-out system say it would help ease the organ shortage in the United States.

Most people support organ donation but never formally record their wishes and an presumed consent system might ease the burden of decision-making on grieving families, according to proponents.

In the United States, thousands of people die each year waiting for organs and many viable organs are never made available for donation, according to background information in a Johns Hopkins news release.

In this study, Hopkins researchers interviewed transplant experts in 13 European countries with presumed consent legislation. Despite those laws, the process of organ donation did not differ dramatically from the process in countries, such as the United States, which require explicit consent.
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