Organ Donation in UK, can someone put my mind at rest?

I have hear that organs get sold to other countries. I have also read that if you are classed as clinically dead, they remove organs form your body whilst you're being kept alive, as it keep the organs fresher....

Are any of these true? I tmay alter my decision to donate...

You need to be brain dead before a transplant team will remove your organs. No brain waves whatsoever. Once there is no chemical activity from your brain, you will not miraculously come back to life. However, your heart can be kept beating by artificial means in order to maintain blood circulation and therefore keep the organs fresher. You certainly wouldn't know anything about it.

The sale of human organs is prohibited by law in the UK. Nobody will sell your kidneys to the highest bidder. Your organs will go to whoever is most likely to accept the transplant (matching blood type, tissue type etc) and whose need is the most urgent.

I don't know if organs are sent abroad. The way I look at it, what does it matter? If there is nobody in the UK who can make use of your organs for whatever reason, there's no point in just incinerating them. Might as well send them to another country which can use them. It's still someone's life you're improving (or even saving), right?

This is a very good question and one i would like to know the answer to as im on the organ donor register ...

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles...

The NHS don't 'sell' organs, but they could end up abroad.

Also, they won't remove organs if you haven't been declared 'dead' which means brain dead. They will however get them as soon as possible and despite being brain dead they might try and keep your body alive to improve the condition of the organs, but you're definitely dead.

why do you have problem with foreign people receiving your organs? sound a bit racist if you ask me!

what difference does it make where they end up? obviously if someones willing to pay a huge price for organs then they are in dire need for them, so why change your decision to help someone just because someones making money off of it? it is still helping someone survive. besides, like you said, you would be clinically "dead" anyway and aren't coming back, right? whats the difference?

Not true. Your organs will only be taken when you are dead. If you havent signed up to be an organ donor (in UK) your next of kin may be asked for permission. If you do or dont want to be a donor let your nearest and dearest know. They would not keep your body alive to harvest your organs! Hope this helps!

Just remember this one thing throughout all this proposed law change and then make your mind up about what yo want to do.

There are many recorded cases of people who have been pronounced dead and while the doc was waiting for approval from the next of kin they have come back to life to then live a normal life.

So now what's your decision?

They don't get sold to other countries. The other countries have pay transportation and administrative costs. The same applies for in country.

As for removing the parts while you are only clinically dead, this is a better process than injecting your brain dead body with chemicals to kill you off before harvesting your organs. The harsh chemicals will render some organs useless. This was one of the complaints in the US medical community when they went from hanging to lethal injection.

Yes This is true but they don't get sold to other countries they are given, there is an organ donor list which is for all the local country's which are in reasonable distance so that the organ can get there on time.

soon there will be a card for people to carry around with them to say that they do not wont to donate, if you don't have it then they will take it that you wont to give.

As an organ donor, they do not sell the organs. The donors is charged nothing for the operation to retrieve the organs, that is charged to the recipient. You must be Brain Dead, not just clinically dead for the organs to be harvested. Brain death is no brain activity and most be verified with repeat tests. Clinical death is absence of heartbeat and can sometimes be reversed. They do not keep you alive, but actually have you on life support to keep the organs oxygenated just long enough to harvest them. It is not like a garden that they keep for further use. If it is where the organs would be harvested, then you will no longer need them, but it could make a lifetime for someone else. Don't change your mind...please.

They sell the blood you've donated, why not your organs? I understand that they switch the life support OFF and wait for you to flatline before begining the harvest - SO FAR

What if you have no relatives?