ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on the issues concerning live organ donation and the challenges this poses for donors who have lost capacity to consent. It argues that the limitations on advance directives and surrogate decision-making mean that they can only give us an indication of preference and cannot serve as an authoritative consent where there is any dispute over donation. The chapter also focuses on organ donation, the implications for this potentially extend to the use of other tissues and even gametes, which could be used for reproductive purposes. It explains the limitations of surrogate consent mean that we can never achieve an acceptable level of substituted judgement for this to be the case. The chapter argues that the central ethical concerns live organ donation before considering the specific ethical problem of living donors who lack capacity.