When It's Time to Donate Organs
|
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
The March 18 news story "New Trend in Organ Donation Raises Questions; As Alternative Approach Becomes More Frequent, Doctors Worry That It Puts Donors at Risk" may have left readers with a mistaken impression that organ donation after cardiac death compromises or hastens the process of declaring death. One particularly inaccurate quote suggested that the donation process begins before death has been legally declared.
First, organ recovery begins only after the legal definition of death has been met and death declared. Throughout the history of medicine, death has been declared upon the permanent cessation of heartbeat. This is also one of the two legal standards of death (the other is permanent and total loss of brain function). Donation after cardiac death does nothing to alter that standard.
Second, the patient's own physician is responsible for withdrawing life support and pronouncing death. The Uniform Anatomical Gift Act expressly forbids a transplant surgeon from participating in this process.
The Institute of Medicine has twice examined and endorsed donation after cardiac death. Transplant providers and advocates continue to evolve protocols to ensure that the highest ethical and medical standards govern such donations.
-- S.V. McDiarmid
Los Angeles
The writer is president of the United Network for Organ Sharing.
