Informed Consent As a Requirement for Post Mortem Organ Donation: the Presence of Pre Mortem Medical Interventions in Prevailing Post Mortem Organ Donation Protocols

Prospective inter vivos organ donors are required to provide an informed consent to donation, a requirement which is consistent with clinical medical practice. A prospective post mortem organ donor, however, need not provide an informed to donation in order for his or her consent to be considered valid. Indeed, both legal and medical practice assume (without elaboration) that a mere bare consent to post mortem organ donation is both necessary and sufficient. This book evaluates whether the consent of a prospective post mortem organ donor should be informed in order to be valid and, if so, why. Ultimately, it is shown that due to the prevalence of potentially dangerous pre mortem organ transplantation optimizing interventions in current post mortem organ procurement protocols, informed consent ought to be required for post mortem organ donation. Moreover, a requirement of informed consent has the potential to increase prevailing organ donation rates, and prevent pre mortem harms to both prospective organ donors and third parties.