To opt-out of organ donation

[Jamiek80]

I am currently on the organ donor list however if the government make it opt out instead of opt in I will choose to opt out. I have a few reasons firstly though I’m on the register I actually have no clue what is involved, What can be taken, how much is taken, what happens to my body and a whole load more questions. Secondly if opt out what will happen can they just take everything I mean it’s possible to transplant a head these days so why not just store whole bodies just in case? Thirdly would the government make it simple to opt-out? Finally if you start opt out technically the government owns your body post death at what point do they decide they can take your organs while you’re still alive? I’m not against organ donation as I said I’m on the register but perhaps a better approach would be more available information, I wouldn’t even know how to re-register these days!

Cat

I've carried a donor card for many years but if an opt out system is introduced it will be torn up and I will opt out. It's not the Government or anyone's business to decide what happens to my organs, it's mine.

*Because it took me long enough of my own free will to decide to go onto the list. And now I'm not happy about them having an assumed right to my body (or anybody elses) after death, like some sort of piece of cattle.

Basically, fuck 'em.*

There's 2 there are more if you Rtft battery about to go.

So all those arguing that you should never be allowed to receive if you weren't prepared to give, where do you draw that line?

Not a taxpayer? Well then you shouldn't be entitled to treatment on the NHS, if you want NHS treatment you should just go out and get a bloody job shouldn't you?

Do sport in your spare time? Well then you shouldn't be entitled to treatment if you're injured on the field.

Don't donate to cancer/heart/asthma charities? Well then you shouldn't be entitled to treatments on that basis.

And actually perhaps we take that one one step further. If you're not prepared to donate your organs perhaps you shouldn't be entitled to heart/kidney/liver/asthma treatments because all of these could mean that you might need an organ at some point and if you're not prepared to give your organs then you should just be left to wrot and die.

And for those talking about how people are paranoid to think that the government would be harvesting organs for its own gain, has no-one remembered the alderhey scandal? Thousands of children and babies' organs harvested and retained for years and years and years without their parents' consent or knowledge. While I don't think that opt out means the government are going to come after me for my organs when I'm alive, I'm not naive enough to think that giving my bodily autonomy to the state after my death couldn't have consequences at some point.

Nope. None of those things. But if you have actively opted out that should automatically opt you out of recieving an organ. Seems perfectly fair to me.

'But if you have actively opted out that should automatically opt you out of recieving an organ. Seems perfectly fair to me.'

Seems perfectly a waste of time to me as you can easily not opt out, but make it clear to your family that you don't want to donate, you're just doing it this way so you won't be denied an organ if you need one.

inconspicuous I love the idea that our atoms are just borrowed from the earth ☺️

Ooops... apologies Curry, I don’t think your post was aimed at me. I seem to have strayed into a bunfight and misunderstood the context of a comment. I’ll have my rather sniffy earlier post deleted!

Not RTFT - I can see why people might be a bit queasy about an opt out system.

However, it should be the case that if you are on the register, that's the end of the story. No relatives overruling the deceased's wishes. I think that would be a good compromise.

Plus have lots of opportunities to opt in eg with driving licence, passport application, GP visits, etc

it should be the case that if you are on the register, that's the end of the story. No relatives overruling the deceased's wishes

I think the reason it is that way is because if push comes to shove and your mother throws herself over your dead body and freaks out, they aren't going to call security in to remove her so they can harvest your organs. It's just a practical thing that I suspect doesn't come up all that often.

One would hope that 99.9% of people who know that their loved one preferred to donate organs rather than having them buried or cremated would respect that wish.

To me, part of the point of the registry is to let your next of kin know what you want so that they have peace about it. It allows the next of kin to flow with that decision, rather than actually making a decision.

Yes.

My only concern is that if it is an opt-out system, that everyone is asked at 18 and at reasonably frequent intervals whether they wish to opt out. I remain to be convinced that this would happen. Not everyone registers with a GP for example, or they could go years without visiting one.

Not all organs will be suitable for transplant. But opt-out increases the chance of saving a life, something I am all for. The doctors can take all the useful bits and chuck the rest of me on a pyre. I'll be dead, I don't care. And coming from an atheist/agnostic family, my relatives won't give a stuff either. Pay it forward.

I read once that donors have been known to squirm in pain as harvesting takes place. I wont donate until i know for sure i will feel nothing.

Where did you read that mrs? Not a reputable scientific site I’d bet...

Do you mean donors who are dead MrsHarrison ? I think that is unlikely, death is a pretty good anaesthetic.

OP here's a quick science lesson;

1.Facial appearances are determined by the structure of skull, cartilage, facial muscle and tissue (and teeth and a whole lot more)
Therefore transplanting face from person A To person B will not mean that person A will be identical to B. They both will have a unique skull, tissue, muscle structure etc. So you can rest easy that once you're gone, your face won't be haunting anyone left behind, with it being transplanted onto someone else.

1. There is no such thing as having "too many organs, so how do they dispose of surplus". There are hundreds, thousands of people on transplant waiting lists, annd never ever in history will there ever be enough donors. There will never be such thing as surplus. Rest assured there won't be a big tyre fire of kidneys, or a bonfire of livers. If any organ does die on its course to a transplant patient while in transit, or is rejected by the transplant patients body, then it'll go into a specific hospital biological waste (i don't see why that's a problem...the body it came out of doesn't need it any more?)
2. I think you should seriously consider doing some reading up on legitimate nhs websites rather than coming to MN. Read up and then bother posting a topic. Because it sounds like you just cant be arsed to find out yet youll cpme back time and time again to repky to strangers on a forum....priorites?

If you are relying on an internet forum to educate you then you're organs are not worth donating to anyone.

Please opt out.

**excuse the spelling and grammar mistakes

@mrs

Don’t think there is any danger of anyone taking your brain,

Yes donors who are supposedly dead. However dying can be a complicated process. I read accounts of medical staff who witnessed this. Pain killing anaesthetic was not allowed. Google it.

I can't link but if you google "organ donors still alive" you will find plenty of info. I read years ago of staff campaigning for anaesthetic use.

Stayhome, maybe engage your brain and research a subject before handing out puerile jibes.

I read years ago of staff campaigning for anaesthetic use

So they were campaigning for anaesthetics so that organs could be taken from people who were still alive ? Would it not be better to campaign for better training for doctors who can't tell if someone is dead or not ? Dead people do not need anaesthetics.

organs are not allowed to deteriorate before harvesting, ie the patient is brain dead but vital organs are still alive. The surgeons know this.

After donation there is still a body so that loved ones arre able to say goodbye in their chosen way. Any part of my body can be used to help someone else because in my case I wish to be cremated and don't want my organs burnt if they can help someone else. I have see how transplantation can help someone have a better life I have also through my job taken part in removal of organs for donation and can reassure that these kind humans are treated with love and dignity. One vet big problem at present is that even if you are on the donation register your loved ones can say no and their wishes are adhered too as they are the ones that have to live with it. So please make sure that your loved ones are fully aware of your wishes and if you feel they may go against your wish make a living will stating you wish to donate, you can say which organs you wish to donate and only those may be taken

Forgot to say google organ donation register. Give lots of info and you can update or become new member, you say which organs on web