Organ donation after assisted suicide: a potential solution to the organ scarcity problem.
Switzerland has low deceased organ donation rates. It is also one of the few countries where assisted suicide is decriminalized in some circumstances. If organs donated by Swiss and foreign citizens assisted in committing suicide in Switzerland were used for transplantation, the country could achieve a surplus of organs. There are several practical problems and ethical and legal objections to this proposal, all of which can be overcome. Organ donation after planned death is a potential solution to the organ scarcity problem in any country that permits assisted dying.
Institute for Biomedical Ethics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
David M
DM
Shaw
D003643:Death; D006801:Humans; D017236:Suicide, Assisted; D013557:Switzerland; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement / Q000941:ethics