Organ-donation system is insufficient

Re: “We need more organ donations,” editorial, March 17; “Presumed consent takes away freedom,” letter, April 2.

The writer indicated that “presumed consent” would take away his freedom. He is forgetting that he would have the “freedom” to opt out. I found it inappropriate to mention presumed consent for cableservice providers in the same letter as consent for life-saving organ donations.

Thousands of Canadians are waiting for a transplant, and the current “opt-in” system is insufficient and needs improvement. Many don’t register, as they are unaware that they need to. Whether “presumed consent” is the answer, I don’t know. There are various opinions as to its success.

Another option could be to reinstate the old system of indicating consent when renewing your driver’s licence in conjunction with the donor registry. People would be asked to make the choice every five years, which would raise awareness.

Consider if it were your child, spouse, parent, brother, sister or friend who needed a transplant. I know how that feels. My son was diagnosed with kidney disease at age five. He had a kidney transplant at age 20 and will need a second transplant in the near future.

Another problem we are facing is that hospitals allow family members to oppose a transplant even when a person has registered as a donor. This should never happen.

In California, when someone registers as a donor, it is recognized as a legally binding final wish and cannot be overturned by anyone, including family.

Irene Stevens Sidney