RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Legal and ethical implications of NICE guidance aimed at optimising organ transplantation after circulatory death
JF Clinical Medicine
JO Clin Med
FD Royal College of Physicians
SP 340
OP 343
DO 10.7861/clinmedicine.13-4-340
VO 13
IS 4
A1 Samuel Littlejohns
A1 Holly Bontoft
A1 Peter Littlejohns
A1 Judith Richardson
A1 Alistair Robertson
YR 2013
UL http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/13/4/340.abstract
AB Increasing the number of organ transplants is a priority for most governments. While potential new legislation for donor registration, such as the Welsh Government white paper on establishing an opt-out system for Welsh residents, is the focus of most ethical and legal scrutiny, there are also other approaches to increase the number of patients receiving organ transplants. The then National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published guidance on this issue in 2011, but subsequent debate in this journal has suggested that the guidance was presumptuous and might encourage unethical practice. This paper addresses these concerns and concludes that the NICE guidance provides a legal, ethical and clinically relevant way forward in a complex and developing public health issue.