German Hospitals to Blame for Low Number of Organ Donations–Report

July 9, 2018

(Deutsche Welle) – The authors of a report published Friday in the German medical journal Ärzteblatt claim that although more German citizens are willing to donate their organs upon death, fewer organs are actually being transplanted.  The authors, Kevin Schulte and Thorsten Feldkamp of the Schleswig-Holstein University Hospital, place blame for the situation on hospitals. The report claims the problem is not a lack of willing donors but rather hospitals not notifying the German Organ Transplantation Foundation (DSO), which coordinates organ donation and transplants nationwide, to donors in their institutions.