Consent for Organ Donation — Balancing Conflicting Ethical Obligations

March 20, 2008

Organ transplantation is truly one of the miracles of modern medicine, saving the lives of many patients and improving the quality of life for many more. Given the ever-increasing gap between the number of organs needed and the supply, clinicians have an ethical obligation to help ensure that the desires of people who want to donate organs are respected. The Department of Health and Human Services took up this challenge in 2003, when it collaborated with leading transplantation organizations to launch the Breakthrough Collaborative, calling on all hospitals to increase their organ-donation rates to 75% or higher. (NEJM)