A Fine Line Is it time to reconsider the dead-donor rule?

"Proponents of sustaining the dead-donor rule emphasize that it strengthens public trust in the organ transplantation system by assuring potential donors and their loved ones that organs will not be removed before a person is declared dead. The rule fulfills the responsibility of physicians and surgeons to ensure that the removal of the heart or lungs, for example, does not cause a patient’s death. Perhaps most importantly, it underscores the foundational medical doctrine: Do no harm....Detractors point out that harm is already occurring. Dying patients who don’t fit the stringent requirements of the dead-donor rule and who want to donate their vital organs are prevented from doing so. Loved ones experience a double loss, a death without the opportunity to save others. At times, the quest to satisfy the rule unsettles practitioners, dissuades patients who want to donate, and compromises the quality of the transplantable organs...."