Organ Donor Law Needs to be Passed

1 May 2006

****FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE****

Organ Donor Law Needs tobe Passed

This Wednesday, Parliament is set to debatethe Human Tissue (Organ Donation) Amendment Bill. The Bill,if passed into law would prevent family members fromoverturning the wishes of a registered donor.

Andy Tookeyof Organ Donation reform group GiveLife NZ who co-authoredthe Bill with Dr. Jackie Blue MP explains why he believesthis Bill should be passed intolaw.

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Autonomy is a concept found inmoral, political, and bioethical philosophy. it refers tothe capacity of a rational individual to make an informed,uncoerced decision. In medicine, respect for the autonomy ofpatients is considered obligatory for doctors and otherhealthcare professionals.

However, in New Zealand autonomydies with the patient. You can tick the donor box on yourdriving licence and tell your family that you have done so,but this by no means will make you a donor should theunfortunate happen.

It may be true that should your familyknow what your prior wishes were they are more likely tofollow those wishes. But when you are going for your drivinglicence, especially your first, do you rush home and tellyour family that you have just signed up as a donor?

In2004 a National newspaper conducted a survey and discoveredthat most people could not remember whether they had putdonor on their own driving licence let alone for them toknow what was on another family members licence. Toillustrate the point the newspaper decided to start thesurvey by asking the Prime Minister, Helen Clark, and leaderof the opposition, Don Brash. Both had to dig out theirdriving licences to check what they had previously put onthem.

Many people may not have put 'donor on theirlicence anyway, as the application form only allows you tospecify being a donor or not. 'All or nothing. During mytravels I have met a lot of people who ticked the 'no boxbecause of this reason. They were happy to donate theirheart, lungs, kidneys and liver but were squeamish abouttheir eyes. As there is no option on the form to specifywhich parts they wished to donate they invariably ticked'no

This is all academic anyway, because even though themajority of people are aware that the driving licence is alegal document, they are unaware that the donor section ofthe licence is the one part that is not legally binding. Thereason behind this is that it is not considered to be'informed consent. Consequently, in the event of anuntimely death the donor status on you driving licence isnot even checked -- Your family are asked what they want todo.

It is an incredible emotional burden to place on afamily at a time that they have just been told of the suddendeath of a loved one to then ask them to then make adecision whether to donate that loved one s organs or not.One would expect the initial reaction at such a time ofstress to say 'no . There is no second chance as doctorsonly ask once.

The deceased person may have held strongbeliefs in helping to save the lives of, and improving thequality of life for up to ten other people after their owndeath. After all when you die there are only three thingsthat can be done with your organs. Bury them, cremate themor donate them and save lives

It is a myth to believethat it is just next-of-kin can veto your wish to be adonor. It could be a relative that you have not seen formany years. It is not a majority vote either. If just oneperson disagrees with your wish to be a donor then you willnot become one.

These actions go counter to what themajority of New Zealanders want. If they have made adecision to be a donor, or conversely not to be a donor,they want their wishes to be respected. Just because theyhave died, they want their right to what they had in lifefor autonomy to carry on to a right of autonomy in death.They are also likely not to want to cause additionaldistress to their families by placing the burden of making adecision on whether they be a donor or not, or even thepossibility of families arguing with each other as towhether they should be donor, particularly if that personhad already made their own decision prior to theirdeath.

Doctors are caught up in the middle of all this,and understandably would not want to argue with the wishesof a distraught family, so of course would want to take theeasiest option. Ironically, the current law does not saythat doctors have to ask family permission. The doctor shave taken this approach upon themselves and then complainwhen they are caught up in the consequences.

One wouldexpect that the doctors involved with organ donation wouldwelcome this law change that gives clarity and legal statusto the potential donor s wishes?

Not so. Should the OrganDonor Amendment Bill pass on votes in Parliament this weekthe doctor s have said that they will vehemently oppose it.They have recently gone even further and said that if thebill should become law they will not abide by it and willcontinue to go with the family wishes.

I believe it willbe a sad day for New Zealand if these 'TransplantTerrorists Tactics from a small minority of people areallowed to prevail over the rights and wishes of themajority of New Zealanders.

Not only will this bill upholdyour right to decide to be a donor or not, it will help tosave the lives of those who are dying on the transplantwaiting list. Last year there were just 29 organ donors inNew Zealand. The lowest in the Western World, and on parwith Peru and Costa Rica.

The family of the patient in theIntensive Care Unit will be deeply distraught at the loss oftheir loved one and at this time of emotional upheaval, theywill not be able to comprehend, and neither should they ,that on a hospital ward a few floors above them will beanother family who will be equally distraught that theirchild will now die in a short time, and will possibly beburied next to the person who wished to help prevent thatfromhappening.

Ends
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