Opt-out organ register unlikely to increase donations – study
by Haroon Siddique, Guardian:
Next of kin more likely to veto family member’s presumed consent, researchers say.
An opt-out register is unlikely to increase the number of organ donations because family members would be more likely to veto a presumed consent, researchers have said.
The results of a study by Queen Mary University of London suggest that next of kin are more likely to quash a donation if their deceased relative has not given explicit consent.
People in England currently have to opt in to donate organs but, amid concerns about a shortage of available organs, the government plans to change to an opt-out system, which presumes consent, from 2020.
The government says the move could save as many as 700 lives a year – there were 6,044 people on the waiting list in 2017-18, 411 of whom died – but the study’s authors question this.
They say the best system is a two-way register, or mandated choice system, whereby people explicitly state either their wish to donate or their objection to doing so.
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