[The presumed consent legislation – A success factor or a disruptive factor for tissue donation? A qualitative study based on multidisciplinary interviews with experts]
Kirchner K, Lauerer M, Nagel E
The Journal of Evidence and Quality in Health Care, 6 October 2023
Abstract
Introduction
Tissue transplantation can improve the quality of life of patients in a very wide range of applications. In 2021, around 900 people in Germany agreed to donate organs after death – the number of tissue donors was significantly higher. Nevertheless, there is a shortage of organs and tissues in Germany. In order to counteract this, the introduction of a presumed consent legislation has been discussed time and again. However, the debates focused on possible positive effects for organ donation, whereas potential consequences for tissue donation have so far not been considered in the political discourse or in research. Using an exploratory approach, this paper aims to contribute to closing this research gap: Multidisciplinary interviews with experts were conducted to investigate whether the presumed consent legislation is a key success factor for increasing the number of tissue donors in Germany and which other approaches might be promising.
Editor’s note: This is a German language publication.
Center for Informed Consent Integrity 