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March 30, 2024, 01:43:15 am

Author Topic: Should family have the final say in organ donation decisions?  (Read 790 times)  Share 

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PhoenixxFire

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Should family have the final say in organ donation decisions?
« on: October 25, 2018, 07:24:21 pm »
+8
Hey,
So I recently joined the organ donor register - which is fairly irrelevant, but it’s why I’ve been thinking about this.

On the information thing about organ donation it talks about about how important it is to talk to family/friends about your decision - and it says that in 9/10 cases where someone is registered, their family allows to the donation to go ahead - and that seems a bit absurd to me.

That means that there are (quite a lot) of cases where an individual has decided that they want to donate their organs, and it doesn’t happen because someone else doesn’t want them to. Which seems really weird to me, because surely if someone has made their choice clear then that should be what counts, not their family’s decision.

Anyway, I was wondering what you all think about this? Should family/friends have any say when the individuals wishes are clear?
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Bri MT

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Re: Should family have the final say in organ donation decisions?
« Reply #1 on: October 25, 2018, 07:40:28 pm »
+8
Imo it's your body and if you want to help people live your family shouldn't be able to stop that

From the Transplant Australia website:
"In Australia the family of every potential donor will be asked to confirm the donation decision of their loved one before donation can proceed.
In Australia more than 60% of families give consent for organ and tissue donation to proceed.
Of the 51% of Australians that know the donation decisions of their loved ones, 94% would uphold these decisions."

K888

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Re: Should family have the final say in organ donation decisions?
« Reply #2 on: October 25, 2018, 07:46:42 pm »
+7
Yeah, I personally think final call should be with the patient if they're a registered organ donor. If the family objects - cool, they don't have to donate their own organs, but that person's autonomy should extend to their decision to donate or not.

I think this brings back an important point, though - everyone should talk to their families and let them know their wishes. Hopefully, after you've provided your reasoning, your family would respect your decision whatever it may be

vox nihili

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Re: Should family have the final say in organ donation decisions?
« Reply #3 on: October 25, 2018, 07:59:21 pm »
+6
Personally I think it's appalling that families are able to intervene to prevent someone from donating their organs against their wishes. The point of appointing family as decision makers is to protect the patient's autonomy, so when family is clearly making decisions that are against the expressed wishes of the patient, we've failed to protect the patient's autonomy.

There have actually been some changes recently in Victorian law that relate to this principle. Previously, when someone became incapacitated by illness, a decision-maker was found to make decisions on their behalf. Typically this was a the closest relative of that person. If an individual had clearly expressed a desire to be treated in a particular way, in writing, their family member was still able to override that decision. The recent changes protect the right of a patient to express their wishes about how they wanted to be treated in writing and have these wishes respected irrespective of their appointed decision-maker's beliefs about how they should be treated.

In my view the above is a sensible change that should also apply to organ donation. If you opt to be on the registry, then your family should have no ability to intervene to prevent them from being transplanted.
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jazcstuart

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Re: Should family have the final say in organ donation decisions?
« Reply #4 on: October 25, 2018, 08:22:08 pm »
+4
Personally I think the individual's decision should be final, because the way our system currently works, they would have had to actively decide to donate their organs and sign up for the organ donor register. Therefore by not allowing the donation to proceed they are directly going against their loved ones wishes.

I definietly agree that everyone should speak to their families about this decision. I think many families would not want to deliberately go against the decisions of their loved ones, however grief can be a powerful emotion with can potentially influence people's perceptions of a decision such as this. I would think that when families are asked to allow the donation to occur or not, they would not necessarily be thinking about the lives it could save, but about what they think is best for their family member, regardless of that person's decision. This does not mean I think they should be able to override their loved one's decision, however it may explain the surprising statistics.

This may be a separate issue, but I believe everyone should be placed on the organ donor register by default, with a simple process for people to remove themselves from the list, or even if everyone was somehow reminded when they turned 18 to think about their wishes. This is because I think many people would want to donate their organs but just never think about it. However this would complicate the families issue because it is harder to tell whether the person consciously did want to donate their organs, so the family might be more inclined to follow their own wishes. I don't know, but I just don't see a reason not to donate your organs if it will save lives (although I will still respect if other people decide not to).

Very interesting discussion. Thanks for raising this, I am very nearly 18 so it has reminded me to register as well.
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