Following initiative in the Federal Council - Organ donation: Lauterbach calls for new push for opt-out solution
Following the Bundesrat's decision on the opt-out solution for organ donation, Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) is calling on the Bundestag to make a new push. "It is very good that the Bundesrat supports the opt-out solution," Lauterbach told stern: "The organ donation figures are permanently too low. Unfortunately, the current legislation has failed."
Lauterbach made it clear: "The only way to achieve new legislation is through the German Bundestag, and I hope that parliamentarians will make a new attempt at a cross-party initiative." He would support this as a member of parliament. "The time is ripe for this," said Lauterbach: "The families affected, who have been waiting a long time for an organ donation, deserve our courage to make a new decision."
Almost four years ago, the opt-out solution failed in a vote in the Bundestag. It stipulates that every person is potentially considered an organ donor if they have not objected during their lifetime. Countries such as Spain and Austria have had such a regulation for some time. In Germany, the rule still applies that organ donations must be expressly consented to by the donor during their lifetime or by their relatives in the event of death (extended consent solution).
Objection rule? Criticism from patient advocates
On Friday afternoon, the Bundesrat passed a motion by North Rhine-Westphalia, Baden-Württemberg and Hesse calling on the Federal Government to submit a bill to include the objection solution in the Transplantation Act. The motion stated that the number of organ donations has been stagnating at a low level for almost ten years. As a result, many waiting patients die before they receive a saving organ.
The board of the German Patient Protection Foundation, however, rejects the proposal. "Instead of wanting to interfere with basic rights, the federal states must finally step on the gas," Eugen Brysch told stern magazine. There is still a lack of "open-ended and comprehensive information" about organ donation, as was decided four years ago. Instead, the federal and state governments are "once again playing the card of the objection regulation, which has been rejected by the majority", said Brysch: "Holding on to the idea that silence means consent is doing a disservice to the patients on the waiting list. Instead, the health ministers should ensure that the online organ donor register actually goes online."
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Source: www.stern.de
