'Opt Out' Organ Donation: An Ethico-Legal Policy Analysis

Perhaps the most commonly proposed solution to the organ shortage is so-called ‘opt out’ organ donation. Despite a mixed evidence base, this policy has been adopted throughout the UK over the last decade. This book offers the first comprehensive analysis of all four UK opt out systems (and those of the Crown Dependencies), charting the chain reaction that took place following the Human Transplantation (Wales) Act 2013. Rather than assessing the success of these systems in increasing transplantation activity—which it is ultimately too soon for—this book examines the paths to and design of these systems. In dissecting the construction, it manoeuvres towards a better understanding of what a ‘good’ opt out system might look like, offering important considerations in the development of future examples elsewhere. In taking a comparative approach, this book also contributes to the growth of scholarly interest in the impact of devolution on healthcare law throughout the UK.