Euthanasia through living organ donation: Ethical, legal, and medical challenges
JournalArticle (Originalarbeit in einer wissenschaftlichen Zeitschrift)
ID
4491250
Author(s)
Bollen, Jan; Shaw, David; de Wert, Guido; Ten Hoopen, Rankie; Ysebaert, Dirk; van Heurn, Ernst; van Mook, Walther
Author(s) at UniBasel
Shaw, David
Year
2018
Title
Euthanasia through living organ donation: Ethical, legal, and medical challenges
Journal
Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation
Pages / Article-Number
1-3
Abstract
Euthanasia is categorically prohibited in almost all countries throughout the world. In Belgium and the Netherlands, combining euthanasia and subsequent organ donation in a so-called donation after circulatory-death (DCD) procedure is feasible on legal and medical grounds, and is increasingly gaining social and ethical acceptance. However, heart transplantation after DCD is currently not performed in Belgium and the Netherlands after euthanasia due to concerns surrounding the prolonged warm ischemia time associated with DCD and its effect on subsequent heart function. A number of patients who undergo euthanasia explicitly express their wish to donate their organs in a "living organ donation" procedure, which then causes death. Assuming that euthanasia is permitted, as expressed in Dutch and Belgian legislation, this exploratory article addresses whether it is legally and ethically sound to donate organs, especially the heart, as a living donor and to perform euthanasia in the same procedure in a patient who fulfills the due diligence requirements for euthanasia. Organ donation euthanasia (ODE) would then cause death by the associated surgical procedure, and in addition would improve the quality of the other donated organs, a procedure that would fully respect the patient's autonomy.Copyright © 2018 International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Publisher
Elsevier
ISSN/ISBN
1053-2498 ; 1557-3117
edoc-URL
https://edoc.unibas.ch/67176/
Full Text on edoc
No
Digital Object Identifier DOI
10.1016/j.healun.2018.07.014
PubMed ID
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30197210
ISI-Number
MEDLINE:30197210
Document type (ISI)
Editorial
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29/03/2024
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