The Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, a landmark law adopted 50 years ago this summer, has provided a sound and stable legal platform on which to base an effective nationwide organ donation and transplantation system, as we discuss in our article in the current issue of the Hastings Center Report.We worked closely with the committee of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws that drafted the act. The cardinal ethical principles of altruism, autonomy, and public trust have been crucial to its success.
The past five decades have brought a commendable and significant increase in the number of lives saved through transplantation. According to the United Network for Organ Sharing, nearly 34,800 transplants, the highest number ever, were performed in 2017, which marked the fifth consecutive year that the number of transplants has increased in the United States. Of the transplants in 2017, 82 percent were from deceased donors.
At the same time, the gap between the number of transplants performed and the number of people eligible is widening. The number of transplant candidates on waiting lists has grown from approximately 18,000 in 1988 to 117,154 on July 13, 2017. Seven thousand Americans died last year waiting for an organ.
… Continue Reading Organ Donation and Transplantation in the US
Image: By Tiiu Sild – Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16817412
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