AN ETHICAL DEBATE - ELECTIVE VENTILATION OF POTENTIAL ORGAN DONORS

Authors
Citation
H. Riad et A. Nicholls, AN ETHICAL DEBATE - ELECTIVE VENTILATION OF POTENTIAL ORGAN DONORS, BMJ. British medical journal, 310(6981), 1995, pp. 714-715
Citations number
18
Categorie Soggetti
Medicine, General & Internal
ISSN journal
09598138
Volume
310
Issue
6981
Year of publication
1995
Pages
714 - 715
Database
ISI
SICI code
0959-8138(1995)310:6981<714:AED-EV>2.0.ZU;2-Z
Abstract
Elective ventilation describes the procedure of transferring selected patients dying from rapidly progressive intracranial haemorrhage from general medical wards to intensive care units for a brief period of ve ntilation before confirmation of brain stem death and harvesting of or gans. This approach in Exeter has led to a rate of kidney retrieval an d transplant higher than has been achieved elsewhere in the United Kin gdom, with a stabilisation of numbers on patients on dialysis. Recentl y doubt has been cast on the legality of our practice of elective vent ilation on the grounds that relatives are not permitted to consent to treatment of an incompetent person when that treatment is not in the p atient's best interests. We are thus faced with the dilemma of a proto col that is ethical, practical, and operates for the greater good but which may be illegal. This article explores various objections to the protocol and calls for public, medical, and legal debate on the issues .