May 2, 2019 DEATH BY ORGAN DONATION: EUTHANIZING PATIENTS FOR THEIR ORGANS GAINS FRIGHTENING TRACTION
What if there is an emerging collision between the worlds of transplantation and euthanasia? There is certain discussion between physicians about “donation after death.” This refers to the rapidly expanding scenario in Canada and some Western European countries whereby a person dies by euthanasia and the body is then operated on to retrieve organs for donation. But the conversion is often extended to the conversation unexpectedly shifted to an emerging question of “death by donation” — in other words, ending a people’s lives with their informed consent by taking them to the operating room and, under general anesthesia, opening their chest and abdomen surgically while they are still alive to remove vital organs for transplantation into other people.