Family almost always donates organs

According to this speech today in the UK House of Lords

[link to www.parliamentlive.tv (secure)]

(punchline within the first 2 or 3 minutes) the percentages of consent for organ donation, in England at least are something like


0.7% have signed an opt-out register they thought they didn't have to sign
1% volunteer to donate their organs
98.3% are decided by families, who mostly decide to donate.


He's speaking about "deemed consent" for organ donation, which is designed to increase organ donations, but he implies that it actually will reduce organ donations by tipping people off that they have to opt out, so it would become more like

10% sign the opt-out register
90% are deemed to have consented

and he says that this 90% is less than the rate of donations under the current law.

(In either case, people who die of certain illnesses or of old age have probably worn out their organs.)


We have similar deemed-consent laws being considered in some states in the United States.

But the punch line is, if you don't want your organs donated on death, you MUST make sure that your family will say no, or that the state won't allow the family to decide and will assume that your organs cannot be donated.

Last Edited by oniongrass on 02/01/2019 11:53 AM