December 01, 2016
Amina Zafar
Cbc.ca
Summary
By analyzing the data of Ontario organ donations, experts found that 1 in 5 registered organ donors had their decision vetoed by family members. In order for the process to be moral yet legal, while accompanied with compassion for the family, a recent commentary published by the Canadian Medical Association Journal suggested that relatives or family members should have a say in organ donations (This should become law). Two researchers of the issue of organ donation shortages in Canada, Maegan Toews and Timothy Caulfied, explained the current situation to the CBC. "Under provincial and territorial legislation, there's nothing that allows families to override an individual's consent. Nevertheless, as a matter of policy, different organ donation organizations and health authorities across the country have indicated that they actually will follow a family's wishes when they conflict with an individual's consent". Toews' goals is to see various policies across Canada to be aligned with the laws related to organ donations in order to have an adequate number of organs for patients and people in need. She explained that it is a very hard mission to achieve, since she wants to respect the families' wishes, as well as fulfilling the people in need with supplies of life-saving organs. Ronnie Gavsie, president and CEO of Ontario's Trillium Gift of Life Network, also agreed with this procedure by saying, "families have the right to share if they believe their loved one might have changed their mind about organ donation, thereby rescinding their loved one's consent," She noted that the family cooperation is very important towards the result of the transplant. It can not only avoid potential conflicts, but might even obtain some of the donor's crucial information such as medical background and history.
The files containing the donor's decision, it's completely confidential, even to the family.
Opinion:
I believe that families should not have the right to veto the donor’s decision. Organs have been extremely limited for the past years, many patients were placed on the wait list for long periods of time, some even passed away due to shortage of organs. The stats reveal that 1 out of 5 families denied the organ donation, this policy is very inhumane in my opinion, since Canada is having a very serious shortage of organs and number of donors. We are essentially letting an inconceivably large number of life-saving organs being wasted, that could potentially save the lives of thousands. People can argue that ethics and grief are a big factor of why the family members should get a say, however, the donor is trying to contribute his last every bit to save other people, therefore they should have the respect to make the decision. Life-saving decisions should be considered first, albeit ethical and emotional considerations are also important. To approaching the problem on shortage of organs, I believe that organ donation communities should adjust their policies so that donors over the age of 18 can make their own decisions without interference of their parents or other family members. They are adults who are responsible for making their own decisions in life, their family members should respect their decisions, especially when it’s potentially saving people. Another way of increasing the amount of organs supplied is through education. If we set up health class that touches on the topic of organ donations, we might inspire individuals that have never thought of it before and turn them into compassionate and aspiring donors. For instance, if we have a class of 10 people, 5 people are willing to become organ donors if certain situation happens, the other 5 not really knowing the process. Hypothetically, if we can teach them the knowledge, 2 out of the 5 of them might actually be eager donors. By considering education, organs supplies will most likely go up in the long run.
