RESEARCH SHOWS CHANGE IN LAW NEEDED

SSRN-The Impact of Presumed Consent Legislation on Cadaveric Organ Donation: A Cross Country Study by Alberto Abadie, Sebastien Gay click

LEADING HAVARD AND CHICAGO RESEARCH BACKS NEED FOR LEGISLATIVE CHANGE

The gap between the demand and the supply of human organs for transplantation is on the rise, despite the efforts of governments and health agencies to promote donor registration. In some countries of continental Europe, however, cadaveric organ procurement is based on the principle of presumed consent. Under presumed consent legislation, a deceased individual is classified as a potential donor in absence of explicit opposition to donation before death. This article analyzes the impact of presumed consent laws on donation rates. For this purpose, this research constructs a dataset on organ donation rates and potential factors affecting organ donation for 22 countries over a 10-year period.

The Research finds that while differences in other determinants of organ donation explain much of the variation in donation rates, after controlling for those determinants presumed consent legislation has a positive and sizeable effect on organ donation rates.

THE PLUS CAMPAIGN WILL MAKE THIS CLEAR TO THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF WALES.