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Doctors ruminate over organ removal principles

by Medindia Content Team on Jun 28 2006 2:36 PM

To enhance the success rate of transplant surgeries, doctors are rethinking on the guidelines for organ removal. Now, The Australian Health Ethics Committee (AHEC) is deliberating over the permission for medical procedures to be conducted on patients who are brain-dead and on the ventilator, with a motive to remove organs before it deteriorates.

The guidelines under consideration addresses the issue of removal of organs from the patient declared brain-dead by atleast two doctors, and would necessitate the transfer of the patient from the intensive care to the operating theatre, keeping the ventilator working on the patient.

This procedure would enable Blood tests to be conducted on the patient and insertion of a tube into the main artery of each leg, to permit the doctors to begin the transplant process once the ventilator is detached, and the patient has ceased to breathe.

Peter Joseph, chairman of the AHEC's organ donation department, said these ethics if practiced can drastically elevate the success rates of transplant surgeries.

Reiterating confidence in this procedure, he said, "It has been done in other countries, certainly in the US. No organ will ever be taken from someone who is not dead. The current considerations would only occur if the patient had indicated their wish to be an organ donor and the family had also consented."


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Should this kind of surgical removal of organs be permitted?

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