Extremism in the Pursuit of Organs is a Vice!

The shortage of vital organs available for transplant continues to worsen in the USA, UK, Germany and many other nations. At the same time the demand for organs continues to grow year after year as the population ages and undergoes organ failure, more people with co-morbidity are admitted to transplant centres and the number of transplant centres and surgeons continues to increase. The shortage has led many to call for changes in the traditional ethical framework that has governed organ donation in the USA and the UK—voluntary altruism on the part of donors and the ‘dead donor rule ’ in terms of eligibility for contributing a vital organ. As these proposals are considered it is important to keep in mind the fragile basis of public support for organ and tissue transplantation. It is also important not to compromise the available supply of organs in the hope of pursuing a new policy that engenders significant public mistrust that may translate into opposition to donation