Regulate organ donation in a living will

Living wills and organ donor card should go together

08/16/2014

Five years ago, when the living will was legally enshrined in Germany, many people wrote it. However, it is often overlooked to make sure that the order should also match a possibly existing organ donor card.

Patient determines his treatment request in the document
Even if years of intensive social and parliamentary discussions required the legal anchoring five years ago, it is clear today that living wills are important. With such a patient can outwardly express his will, even if he is no longer able to do so due to acute injury or illness himself, as the Berlin Notary explained according to a message from the news agency dpa. In this document, it can be determined which treatment the patient desires and which does not. In addition, the patient determines a confidant who represents him to physicians.

Those affected often reject life-prolonging measures
In their decision, many sufferers reject life-prolonging, intensive care measures. However, if the patient is also an organ donor at the same time, this can lead to a conflict, as organs for transplants may only be taken from a proven brain death. However, the life functions of the organ donor must be artificially maintained until removal in order to prevent the death of organs and to maintain their transplant ability.

Doctors must follow the instructions of the person of trust
If this is the case, the confidant must instruct the physicians to adhere to the living will. The willingness to donate more than the treatment requirements laid down in the living will is not allowed. The treating physicians are obliged to follow the instructions of the person of trust. Patients should therefore design their living will in a way that reflects their willingness to donate organs so that confidants and physicians do not have to make their decisions against this legal dilemma.

Clear regulation would be important
What is important is a clear regulation, which allows physicians to maintain life functions to organ removal in the short term, if the patient is considered as an organ donor. This problem is not new, it only shows that, unfortunately, no further binding specifications have been established for years. As early as 2012, the German Foundation for Organ Transplantation (DSO) had drawn attention to the fact that those who decide to donate organs after death should keep in mind that „the details in the organ donor card do not conflict with those in the living will, such as the reference to the waiver of life-sustaining measures.“ (Ad)