Organ Donation Taskforce Response - Presumed Consent Should Not Be Ruled Out, Says British Medical Association

Main Category: Transplants / Organ Donations
Article Date: 17 Nov 2008 - 8:00 PDT

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Responding to confirmed reports today (Monday 17 November 2008) that the Organ Donation Taskforce will not be recommending moving towards a system of presumed consent, the BMA's Head of Science and Ethics, Dr Vivienne Nathanson, said:

"We are obviously disappointed by this decision. The BMA firmly believes that presumed consent, combined with improvements to the transplantation infrastructure, is the way forward. We are, however, pleased to see that this option has not been completely dismissed and that the issue is to be reviewed again in five years' time.

"We now need to work with the Government towards the common goals of increasing awareness about donation and improving donation rates. But we also need to continue talking about presumed consent as a serious possibility for the future should these changes not have the desired effect."

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