New guidance after organ patient Lynsey Scott's death

I did a post about this last fall and noted that the recipient's family filed a complaint with the British transplant office. As government decisions go this is quite a rapid response.

New guidelines for transplant patients have been introduced after the death of a woman from Greater Manchester who was given the lungs of a smoker.

BBC News Manchester

Cystic fibrosis sufferer Lynsey Scott, from Wigan, was not told of the condition of the organs she received.

Since her death, her family have campaigned for patients to be given information about potential donors.

New guidelines have now been ratified by NHS Blood and Transplant and the British Transplantation Society.

Miss Scott, 28, was given a double lung transplant at Wythenshawe Hospital in February 2009 but died months later.

It was only after her death, her family learned her organ donor had been a smoker for 30 years.

Miss Scott's father Allan is adamant his daughter would have rejected the transplant had she known the lungs were those of a smoker.

"A lot of people on the transplant list at this moment would, in all probability, say: 'Well, I've only got six months left to live, I'll take that chance.'

"But it's their choice, it's their decision, no-one else's and that's all we've ever asked for."

Previously, the only specific guidelines were from the British Transplantation Society and the information shared about a donor's medical history varied from clinician to clinician.

NHS Blood and Transplant said that, for the first time, that information would be offered to all patients to inform them as to "the benefits and risks of transplantation".

Associate medical director Prof James Neuberger said he accepted the guidelines should incorporate patients' wishes.

'Difficult time'
"Consent should be a process and it should start when the patient is being assessed for transplantation so that information is given over time and in a form that the patient can understand," he said.

"Of course they're stressed, they're ill, they're anxious, they're worried and it's a very difficult time for them.

"But people have to get the information ... and then have time to make those decisions to make sure what they decide is right for them."

The new guidance is to be published on both the NHS Blood and Transplant and the British Transplantation Society websites.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here

In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov

In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register

In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register

Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You