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. 2022 May;22(5):1307-1310.
doi: 10.1111/ajt.16947. Epub 2022 Jan 24.

Response to American College of Physician's statement on the ethics of transplant after normothermic regional perfusion

Brendan Parent  1 , Arthur Caplan  1 , Nader Moazami  2 , Robert A Montgomery  2
Affiliations
Free article

Response to American College of Physician's statement on the ethics of transplant after normothermic regional perfusion

Brendan Parent et al. Am J Transplant. 2022 May.
Free article

Abstract

This paper responds to the position statement released by the American College of Physicians (ACP) entitled "Ethics, Determination of Death, and Organ Transplantation in Normothermic Regional Perfusion (NRP) with Controlled Donation after Circulatory Determination of Death (cDCD): American College of Physicians Statement of Concern." The ACP's statement engages with critical ethical issues surrounding cDCD NRP, but several of their conclusions are flawed. Contrary to the statement, the practice respects the dead donor rule and the legal definition of death while honoring the wishes of the deceased and their loved ones to help save the lives of those in need of organ transplants. cDCD NRP is well established in many countries, it can enhance trust in medical practice and organ donation, and will increase the availability of optimal organs for life-saving transplants.

Keywords: donors and donation: donation after circulatory death; editorial/personal viewpoint; ethics; ethics and public policy; law/legislation; organ perfusion and preservation; organ procurement; organ procurement and allocation; organ transplantation in general.

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References

REFERENCES

    1. American College of Physicians. Ethics, determination of death, and organ transplantation in normothermic regional perfusion (NRP) with controlled donation after circulatory determination of death (cDCD): American College of Physicians Statement of Concern. https://www.acponline.org/acp_policy/policies/ethics_determination_of_de.... Published 2021. Accessed January 12, 2022.
    1. Jochmans I, Hessheimer AJ, Neyrinck AP, et al. Consensus statement on normothermic regional perfusion in donation after circulatory death: report from the European Society for organ transplantation’s transplant learning journey. Transpl Int. 2021. 10.1111/tri.13951
    1. Parent B, Moazami N, Wall S, et al. Ethical and logistical concerns for establishing NRP-cDCD heart transplantation in the United States. Am J Transplant. 2020;20(6):1508-1512.
    1. Point BJL. Are donors after circulatory death really dead, and does it matter? Yes and yes. Chest. 2010;138(1):13-16. 10.1378/chest.10-0649
    1. Parent B, Turi A. Death’s troubled relationship with the law. AMA J Ethics. 2020;22(12):1055-1061.

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