StG

Please don't take what I said personally because it certainly wasn't intended that way. Also, I applaud your initiative and forthrightness - would that more voters took your lead.

This para outlines is where I am coming from:
"I support 'opt out' and can easily make ethical arguments supporting it. However I do not support lazy, gutless politicians who sweep problems under the carpet and are unwilling to explain issues to the public and enter into direct consultation for consensus on a practical solution that identifies and treats all of the risks and objections."

There are very effective ways of directly consulting with the community and this is an ideal policy area to do it. However we need statesmen to be champions.

Winning 'opt in' as a policy is also a loss (winning the battle but losing the war) if enduring management and legal issues (SNAFU) are not surfaced, thrashed out with community help and community consensus obtained. Remember the insulation debacle, why risk a short-cut political compromise, thrashed out behind closed doors and with vested interests (who would not include consumers)?

The first sentence of my last para says "Winning 'opt in' as a policy...", whereas it should read "Winning 'opt out' as a policy...'.

StG

Thank you.

What is really odd is that I haven't even discussed my decision with my friends yet - found myself telling a mostly anonymous internet audience instead. Well it is a start

StG and Severin, I too am sorry for what your loved ones are going through. I have nursed people with these diseases over the years, and found the family and carers go through nearly as much angst as the patients. CF is an especially tragic disease in that it takes people so young.

All I can suggest is that when the time comes, you check out all the help in your community that is available for patients and carers. It is out there if you look hard enough.

Organ donation should definitely be on an 'opt-out' system as far as I am concerned. The medical community spend far too much precious time trying to find, then convince shattered next-of-kins to give consent to take the deceased person's organs- quickly!

Deciding on matters like organ donation when you are recently bereaved is not an easy matter. If the deceased person did not opt to keep their organs previously, then how much easier it would be for all concerned to just go ahead and harvest the organs in a timely manner.

suzeonline, "If the deceased person did not opt to keep their organs previously, then how much easier it would be for all concerned to just go ahead and harvest the organs in a timely manner."

If anything 'opt out' makes it harder and hospitals would certainly want to protect their assets from legal suits from relatives and next-of-kin who might disagree. In any event the tissue degrades while the next of kin is found and contacted. Possible donors are often road accident victims and it takes time to identify, find and get approval from the next of kin.

That is why it is critical that the next-of-kin informed consent issue is resolved - which can be done in advance and possible instead of further change. Who knows, just discussing and fixing that could increase the availability of organs suitable for transplant through wiping out the main cause of delay that ruins tissue.

Cornflower, I would have hoped that if a person did not put himself or herself on a 'do not take my organs' register, then it will be assumed that he/she agrees to have their organs harvested?

Finding the relatives will still be imperative of course, so they can say their goodbyes etc, but I had hoped that getting any 'consent' from them would not be needed if we went ahead with the 'opt-out' legislation.

In the event that relatives could not be found in a timely manner, to allow the safe and effective harvest of the patient's organs, then I believe that hospitals should be allowed to go ahead anyway, as it was the patient's wishes.

Maybe until such legislation can become law, people could legally add their wishes to be an organ donor to the new 'living will' paperwork?