Automatic harvest of organs opposed
01 May 2004 
By GAIL GOODGER

People should not automatically become organ donors if they had not agreed to before death, people at a public consultation meeting said in Dunedin yesterday.

If, however, they had agreed to be an organ donor, the family should not have the right to stop their organs being used, they said.

About 20 people attended the Ministry of Health consultation meeting about proposed laws governing the use of human tissue. Under those laws, everybody would become organ donors unless they officially opted out.

The head of one discussion group at yesterday's meeting in Dunedin, University of Otago professor of law Prof Peter Skegg, said the public would probably not accept the idea that organs could be harvested after death if a person had not specifically opposed becoming a donor.

Family should be consulted if a person had not signalled either way, he said. But if people wanted to be organ donors, their wishes should not be vetoed after death.

The group opposed body organs and tissue being sold. However, it did believe people who donated organs while alive should not be left out of pocket for expenses incurred. A person on an average wage could not afford to have a month off work to have the operation and recover, Prof Skegg said.

The head of another discussion group, Jenni Ngahooro, said the group thought people's willingness to donate organs should be noted with their National Health Index number so hospital staff knew their preference.

The group also agreed family should not be able to veto an organ donor's wishes after death. Donors had made calm decisions in advance while families were in shock.

Only a relatively small pool of people could become donors because it was only possible to harvest organs when people died in hospital on a ventilator.