Organ donation in Ireland

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The current law in Ireland requires a potential donor to opt in to becoming an organ donor. However, it is ultimately up to their family to make the decision whether or not the person can donate their organs after they die. [1]

Contents

New legislation introducing a soft opt out system of consent, in which consent for organ donation is assumed unless a person has opted out, is currently before the Irish upper house for consideration. [2] [3]

Organ donation

Organ Donation and Transplant Ireland (Gaelic: Deonú agus Trasphlandú Organ Éireann), part of Ireland's Health Service Executive, manages the overall process of donation and retrieval in Ireland. [4]

Donors in Ireland can be living or dead. Usually living donations consist of giving a kidney to a loved one. After someone has died, a person's organs can be donated after brainstem death or circulatory death. Brainstem death is when there is no brain function, with no blood flow or oxygen to the brain. Circulatory death is when the person is injured beyond recovery and will not survive without the support of a ventilator. Two doctors need to verify death via a series of strict tests [5]

There are Specialist Organ Donation Personnel working in hospitals throughout Ireland who provide training, education, support and advice. [5]

Organ Donor Card

The Irish Kidney Association is known for its Organ Donor Card. It has no legal basis, but can be used to communicate a patient's wishes to their next-of-kin. [6] [7]

Current law

Currently, a person must opt-in to organ donation. Having a medical condition does not necessarily prevent a person from becoming a donor – it is ultimately up to an organ retrieval specialist to assess organ suitability for transplantation. [1]

In Ireland, the heart, lungs, liver, pancreas and kidneys can be donated. [5]

New proposed legislation

In November 2023, the Dáil Éireann (lower house of the Oireachtas , or Irish parliament) passed the Human Tissue (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Bill 2022. This Bill provides "general conditions for the removal, donation and use of organs and tissue from deceased and living persons", including a soft opt-out system of consent for organ donation. Under this system, consent for organ donation will be taken as given unless a person has registered, while alive, their wish to not become an organ donor. The wishes of the deceased will be central to any decision about their organs being donated, however families will still be consulted. [2] At at 6 December 2023, the Bill is before the Seanad Éireann (upper house of the Oireachtas) for consideration. [3]

The new Bill arose from recommendations in a 2005 report from Dr Deirdre Madden on post mortem practices in Irish hospitals (the Madden Report). In 1999, it was revealed that the organs of thousands of children in Ireland were sold to pharmaceutical companies without their families' knowledge or consent. Following this revelation, Micheál Martin, the Minister for Health at the time, set up the Dunne Inquiry to investigate the incidents. In 2004, Mary Harney took over as Minister for Health and appointed Dr Deirdre Madden to produce a report based on the contents of the Dunne Inquiry. [8] [9]

Former Minister for Health, Simon Harris, has said "that the proposed opt-out system would encourage people to discuss their intentions regarding organ donation with their next-of-kin." [10] The bill also aims to ensure that "no hospital post-mortem examination should be carried out, and no tissue retained, for any purpose whatsoever without authorisation". [11]

The "opt-out" approach is currently used in many other countries including Spain and Belgium. [12] In Spain, the system has proved very effective; the organ donation rates are around 35 per million people in 2012, compared to 17 in the UK. [12]

Statistics

In its 2022 Annual Report, Organ Donation and Transplant Ireland (ODTI) reports that in 2022 Ireland had 86 deceased and 33 living organ donors, leading to 130 kidney, 51 liver, 20 lung, 10 heart and 2 pancreas transplants. [13]

Whole body donation

A person can also donate their whole body to any of five medical schools in Ireland for research purposes. Each university has its own regulations:

Further reading

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organ transplantation</span> Medical procedure in which an organ is removed from one body and placed in the body of a recipient

Organ transplantation is a medical procedure in which an organ is removed from one body and placed in the body of a recipient, to replace a damaged or missing organ. The donor and recipient may be at the same location, or organs may be transported from a donor site to another location. Organs and/or tissues that are transplanted within the same person's body are called autografts. Transplants that are recently performed between two subjects of the same species are called allografts. Allografts can either be from a living or cadaveric source.

The Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (UAGA), and its periodic revisions, is one of the Uniform Acts drafted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL), also known as the Uniform Law Commission (ULC), in the United States with the intention of harmonizing state laws between the states.

Prior to the introduction of brain death into law in the mid to late 1970s, all organ transplants from cadaveric donors came from non-heart-beating donors (NHBDs).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kidney transplantation</span> Medical procedure

Kidney transplant or renal transplant is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient with end-stage kidney disease (ESRD). Kidney transplant is typically classified as deceased-donor or living-donor transplantation depending on the source of the donor organ. Living-donor kidney transplants are further characterized as genetically related (living-related) or non-related (living-unrelated) transplants, depending on whether a biological relationship exists between the donor and recipient. The first successful kidney transplant was performed in 1954 by a team including Joseph Murray, the recipient’s surgeon, and Hartwell Harrison, surgeon for the donor. Murray was awarded a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1990 for this and other work. In 2018, an estimated 95,479 kidney transplants were performed worldwide, 36% of which came from living donors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian Blood Services</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Body donation</span> Gifts of bodies for research and education

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in the Republic of Ireland</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human Transplantation (Wales) Act 2013</span> United Kingdom legislation

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organ Donation (Deemed Consent) Act 2019</span> United Kingdom law

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Organ donation in India is regulated by the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994. The law allows both deceased and living donors to donate their organs. It also identifies brain death as a form of death. The National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) functions as the apex body for activities of relating to procurement, allotment and distribution of organs in the country.

Elizabeth Despard Ward OBE was a British healthcare campaigner known for pioneering organ donor cards and founding the charity Kidney Care UK. She helped raise funds totalling £70 million for hospital renal units, including at Great Ormond Street Hospital. Ward also advocated for the UK's introduction of opt-out consent for organ donation.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Citizensinformation.ie. "Citizens Information". www.citizensinformation.ie. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
  2. 1 2 "Minister for Health welcomes the passage of landmark Human Tissue Bill 2022 through the Dáil". www.gov.ie. 2023-11-08. Retrieved 2024-02-02.
  3. 1 2 Oireachtas, Houses of the (2022-12-20). "Human Tissue (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Bill 2022 – No. 121 of 2022 – Houses of the Oireachtas". www.oireachtas.ie. Retrieved 2024-02-02.
  4. ↑ "Organ Donation and Transplant Ireland". HSE.ie. Retrieved 2024-02-02.
  5. 1 2 3 "Organ Donation and Transplant Ireland". HSE.ie. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
  6. ↑ Daly, Ailbhe (January 7, 2022). "Kidney transplant paves the way for Donegal man to finally get married". Irish Mirror .
  7. ↑ Shanahan, Catherine (October 18, 2021). "Working Life: I receive a call regarding a potential organ donor". Irish Examiner .
  8. ↑ Smith, Emily (2022-11-03). "The Organ Retention Scandal and HSE Internal Audit 2022". Lavelle Partners. Retrieved 2024-02-02.
  9. ↑ Oireachtas, Houses of the (2023-01-24). "Human Tissue (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Bill 2022: Second Stage – Dáil Éireann (33rd Dáil) – Tuesday, 24 Jan 2023 – Houses of the Oireachtas". www.oireachtas.ie. Retrieved 2024-02-02.
  10. ↑ Ryan, Nicky. "'The most selfless gift': A record number of organ donations were carried out in 2017". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
  11. ↑ Finn, Christina (2017-08-28). "Harris wants to bring in opt-out organ donation system next year". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 2024-02-02.
  12. 1 2 Willis, Brian H; Quigley, Muireann (2014). "Opt-out organ donation: on evidence and public policy". Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 107 (2): 56–60. doi:10.1177/0141076813507707. PMC   3914429 . PMID   24158942.
  13. ↑ "Publications". HSE.ie. Retrieved 2024-02-02.
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