MAID: Organ donation guidelines updated for first time since 'natural death' eligibility criteria removed
CTV
The guidelines on how to handle organ donation after medically-assisted death have been officially updated for the first time since a 'reasonably foreseeable natural death' was removed from the eligibility criteria.
The guidelines on how to handle organ donation after medically-assisted death have been officially updated for the first time since a "reasonably foreseeable natural death" was removed from the eligibility criteria.
In 2019, Canadian Blood Services (CBS) developed a set of policy guidelines for organ and tissue donation surrounding patients undergoing medical assistance in dying (MAID), so that clinicians, organ donation organizations and palliative care experts would be able to walk patients through the process and their options for organ donation with sensitivity and care.
But these recommendations haven’t been updated since Bill C-7 removed the criteria of a foreseeable natural death in 2021 — until now.
CBS posted a set of updated and new recommendations in the Canadian Medical Association Journal on Monday.
"The purpose of this updated guidance is to continue to inform the development of policies and practices of donation after MAiD," authors wrote. "This will help clinicians navigate the medical, legal and ethical challenges that arise when they support patients pursuing donation after MAiD.”
The recommendations — which were developed on behalf of CBS with the help of the Canadian Society of Transplantation, the Canadian Association of Critical Care Nurses, the Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program and the Canadian Association of MAiD Assessors and Providers — includes two updated recommendations and eight new recommendations to add onto the 2019 guidelines, which are still largely applicable.
The updated and new recommendations centre around how to refer patients to organ donation organizations, how to receive informed consent, and education for physicians involved in organ donation and working with MAID applicants.
