Letter: Whose organs?

Sir: For Professor Harris's scheme to be enacted, there will need to be a full debate on the circumstances of organ donation.

It is suggested by Professor Harris and others that the removal of organs at post-mortem examination is similar to that at organ donation; this is simply not the case. In the former, death is certain, circulation is stagnant and the body cold. At donation, death is diagnosed, the circulation supported, and the body warm.

These facts, and others which would be even more distasteful to many, are essential for the understanding of organ donation. It would be wholly inappropriate to propose legislation to allow the removal of organs without consent without laying the full facts before the public.