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UK's Top Doc Calls for Organ Donation to Be Default Option

Says it's the only way to meet demand

By Sam Gale Rosen, Newser Staff

Posted Jul 17, 2007 9:20 AM CDT

(Newser) – The UK's chief doctor is calling for everyone who doesn't specify otherwise to be automatically considered an organ donor. Sir Liam Donaldson says not only does the UK face a severe shortage of donated organs, as do other countries, but 70% say they want to donate and only 20% end up registering.

A similar proposal failed to get government approval in 2004. Britain needs three times as many organ donors as it currently has to meet demand, Sir Liam says. "I believe we can only do this through changing the legislation to an opt-out system with proper regulation and safeguards," he says.

In this photo released by the Haggerty family, Max Haggerty, 23, of Homer, Alaska, sits on a table in pre-op for double lung transplant at University of Washington, in Seattle on April 7, 2007. The 23-year-old... (Associated Press)

Dr. Rebecka Meyers begins operating on Maliyah Herrin for a transplant Tuesday, April 3, 2007, at Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City. The 5-year-old, a formerly conjoined twin who was... (Associated Press)

In this undated photo supplied by the Hallmark Channel Samantha Mathis plays a critically ill woman awaiting a heart transplant in the television movie, "A Stranger's Heart," which airs Saturday, May... (Associated Press)

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UK's Top Doc Calls for Organ Donation to Be Default Option

Says it's the only way to meet demand

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