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Organ Donation Goof Up Adds to NHS Woes

by Rajshri on Apr 12 2010 6:57 PM

In a major goof up by Britain’s NHS Blood and Transplant organization, more than 400,000 records of organ donation have been mixed up which might lead to doctors removing different organs from the body than which was specified in the organ donation cards.

So far 21 cases have been confirmed where doctors removed the wrong organs and the mix has led to fears that more and more people could opt out of donating their organs. Initially more than 800,000 records were affected but NHS Blood and Transplant revealed than around 400,000 records have been corrected.

More than 17 million Britons have registered to have their organs donated after their death but the preference of organs have been recorded incorrectly for the last 10 years, a fact that came to light only after NHS Blood and Transplant started to contact registered donors about their organ donor preferences.

Health Secretary Andy Burnham revealed that an investigation will be conducted to look into the matter. “It would appear to relate to a technical error going back to 1999 and this was how data was transferred between the DVLA (Driving and Vehicle Licensing Authority) and the blood and transplant service. That has now been corrected”, he added.


Source-Medindia
RAS


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