Presumed consent

[cromwell]

Ossie I am quite sure that you would honour Mrs O's wishes if - heaven forbid - the situation arose, so I am interested to know just why you, Cromwell, are assuming that organs would be used against the wishes of the deceased?

Kaz, I'm assuming that some people will be against this measure but will not bother to register on the "opt out" register because they think it's morbid / tempting fate / will never happen to them.
In such circumstances in will not matter what the deceased or their relatives think, the state will assume ownership of the body and take what they want. Which imo is wrong.
And that's before we get to the "Oh, that John Smith? Sorry, we thought he was the John Smith who wasn't on the "Hands off" register. Sorry about that. No, we didn't look in his wallet, it must have got lost".

I just think Kaz, there is an increasing tendency for an arrogant and elitist State to do what it wants. Effectively by it's use of the Liverpool Care Pathway it has legitimised euthanasia. Now it is legitimising the Burke and Hare routine, as Ossie says. They are assumimg powers that they shouldn't have.

[Kaz]

I'm with Debih - I honestly don't see what use organs are to the dead

I do respect your right to an opinion, honestly I do, but I really don't understand it......

[Workingman]

I don't get the figures. http://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/

As of today 7,249 people are waiting for transplants.

There are 19,729,684 registered donors.

With an average life expectancy of 70 that would mean about 280,000 registered donors dying each year.

Why isn't that enough? There is more to this than the number of donors and we are not being told. The legislation in Wales is a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

[debih]

I don't get the figures. http://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/

As of today 7,249 people are waiting for transplants.

There are 19,729,684 registered donors.

With an average life expectancy of 70 that would mean about 280,000 registered donors dying each year.

Why isn't that enough? There is more to this than the number of donors and we are not being told. The legislation in Wales is a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

I wonder if it is because not all donors agree to donate all organs. And also because for the majority of donations they need to be a match.

[Kaz]

No, many people can't donate because of how they die - only those who die in hospital, still otherwise fit and well, usually as the result of an accident, will be able to donate........ people dying of natural causes often can't as you need to be brain dead but with the heart still beating.............

[Workingman]

I wonder if it is because not all donors agree to donate all organs.

Now that might be the nitty-gritty. If voluntary donors are allowed to pick what they want to donate then they are prepared to do so, but if the option was 'all or nothing' many of them might drop out.

So, this new law is a way of getting all, even from those who would have volunteered.

[debih]

Now that one I can't answer!

That is something I find really weird - eyes are the main thing that people don't like donating when in fact you don't need a match for a cornea transplant.

I really can't fathom why someone is happy to donate their heart, kidneys, etc but not their eyes.

They aren't any use to you once your gone are they!

[Workingman]

From the site....

* an additional 797 people
have donated corneas

* 784 people have received
the gift of sight

So that can't be it.

I remain suspicious of the need to go this far.

[Aggers]

I'm a little concerned that if an aged person has a body component that would be suitable for a young person in need of one, the medical people in charge might make a decision to withhold life-saving treatment in order to make the component available..

And don't tell me that that isn't likely. I don't trust anyone I don't know.

[Suff]

I have carried a donor card, on and off, for many years. I don't have any issue with my body parts being harvested after I've gone.

However, today, I probably wouldn't hold a card and I would probably opt out. Mainly because I do not trust the medical professions definition of "clinically dead". Far too many people have recovered from being categorised as "brain dead" for me to be comfortable that the right decision will be made.

So it comes down to trust. Do I trust the hospitals and the government to make the right decision for me at a time when I am most vulnerable? Sadly, NO I don't.

That is a change because, had you asked me 20 years ago, I would have been with the Women on this solidly. No gender divide for me.

That is really sad. When you think about it.