The potential of legislation on organ donation to increase the supply of donor organs.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this paper is to assess the possibilities to adapt the 1998 Dutch Organ Donation Act, taking account of fundamental principles such as the right to physical integrity, equitable access to and equal availability of care, and the non-commerciality principle, with a view to increasing the organ supply.


METHODS
In 2008 the Dutch Taskforce on Organ Donation presented several proposals to amend the Act and to increase the supply of organs. This paper describes the proposals to amend the Act and evaluates them by assessing their intrinsic adherence to basic principles and the available evidence that these proposals will indeed increase the organ supply.


RESULTS
Several proposals could constitute an infringement of fundamental principles of the Act. Moreover, evidence for their impact on the organ supply is lacking. Changing the consent system is possible, as this would not incur legal objections. There are diverging views regarding the impact of consent systems on the organ supply.


CONCLUSIONS
The scope for changing the Act and its impact on organ procurement is at best limited. Relying on legislation alone will possibly not bring much relief, whereas additional policy measures may be more successful.
Coppen
Remco
R
NIVEL, Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, PO Box 1568, 3500 BN Utrecht, The Netherlands. r.coppen@nivel.nl
Friele
Roland D
RD
van der Zee
Jouke
J
Gevers
Sjef K
SK
D006291:Health Policy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D009426:Netherlands; D011050:Policy Making; D014019:Tissue Donors / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*