Doctors in the Netherlands are proposing to harvest organs from euthanised people to increase the number of life-saving organs available for transplant.
If approved, the procedures would be binding on hospitals and doctors throughout the country.
The move is spurred on by what transplant surgeons consider the waste of healthy organs.
“An estimated 5 to 10% of people who are euthanased could be considered for organ donation,” says Gert van Dijk a medical expert with the Royal Dutch Medical Association.
“Five percent does not seem like much, but this still means 250 to 500 potential organ donors every year,” he says.
van Dijk believes the number of organs available for life-saving procedures could be doubled.
Linking euthanasia and organ transplants as a “living donation” is seen as a way of “crossing the bar” and giving donors consolation of knowing they are saving lives.
The fresher the organs, the more viable they are, doctors say.
Unlike most donations from those brain-dead and whose organs are kept alive artificially, the doctors say all the organs – both kidneys, both lungs, the whole liver, the heart, the corneas etc – will become available.
Records show only six cases of organ donation after euthanasia in the Netherlands, however neighbouring Belgium considers itself a leader in post-euthanasia organ harvesting.
Sources
- Mercatornet
- Image: Life-Site News
News category: World.
