Abandoning the dead donor rule? A national survey of public views on death and organ donation.

ABSTRACT: Brain dead organ donors are the principal source of transplantable organs. However, it is controversial whether brain death is the same as biological death. Therefore, it is unclear whether organ removal in brain death is consistent with the 'dead donor rule', which states that organ removal must not cause death. Our aim was to evaluate the public's opinion about organ removal if explicitly described as causing the death of a donor in irreversible apneic coma. We conducted a cross-sectional internet survey of the American public (n=1096). Questionnaire domains included opinions about a hypothetical scenario of organ removal described as causing the death of a patient in irreversible coma, and items measuring willingness to donate organs after death. Some 71% of the sample agreed that it sh

SUBMITTER: Nair-Collins M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4392220 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature