Lawsuits oppose secret harvesting of organs
At least two lawsuits filed at a top European court claim Russia violated Europe’s Human Rights Convention by removing organs from the recently dead without telling relatives.
Russia’s response: Asking relatives’ permission would be “inhumane.”
Documents provided to the Associated Press detail how Russia is fighting charges over the way it harvests organs in two cases submitted to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, last year. Separate decisions are expected in the coming months.
It is simply “inhumane” to ask family members about organ removal “almost simultaneously with notification of the death of their loved one,” Russia claimed in a July memo to the court. And there is not enough time to get consent before taking organs, government lawyers added.
As part of Russia’s “presumed consent” system, doctors routinely — and legally — remove organs from people who have died without either their approval or that of their loved ones. Russia argues in legal briefs that if doctors were required to get permission before taking organs, people would refuse and the transplantation system would collapse.
But that failure to inform grieving families, some of whom later discover their relatives’ organs were secretly taken, has led to at least two lawsuits that contend the Russian law and how it is interpreted violates fundamental human rights guaranteed in Europe.
Legal experts say the Russian approach to taking organs can be dangerous because it undermines trust. But some ethicists said Russia’s approach should be commended — and even copied — to help the living.
Many countries have presumed consent systems, including Austria, Spain and Sweden, and others across Europe are moving toward a similar approach, including England and the Netherlands. But many physicians say none is as aggressive as Russia. For example, many countries include provisions specifying that doctors cannot take organs if there are no next of kin or if the next of kin have serious misgivings.