Organ transplantation: approaching the donor's family

Abstract

To achieve this end a variety of different strategies has been suggested. For example, some European countries, such as Austria, have legislation that permits doctors to remove the organs of potential cadaveric donors unless they have previously registered their wish to the contrary.5 The introduction of such legislation in the United Kingdom is advocated by the British Kidney Patients' Association. In certain states in the United States doctors are required to approach relatives of potential donors who are brainstem dead. In the United Kingdom the government has recently set up a transplant register and invited members of the public to register their willingness to become organ donors.