For Victims of Fatal Child Abuse, Who Has the Right to Consent to Organ Donation?
- PMID: 32817267
- DOI: 10.1542/peds.2020-0662
For Victims of Fatal Child Abuse, Who Has the Right to Consent to Organ Donation?
Abstract
In rare circumstances, children who have suffered traumatic brain injury from child abuse are declared dead by neurologic criteria and are eligible to donate organs. When the parents are the suspected abusers, there can be confusion about who has the legal right to authorize organ donation. Furthermore, organ donation may interfere with the collection of forensic evidence that is necessary to evaluate the abuse. Under those circumstances, particularly in the context of a child homicide investigation, the goals of organ donation and collection and preservation of critical forensic evidence may seem mutually exclusive. In this Ethics Rounds, we discuss such a case and suggest ways to resolve the apparent conflicts between the desire to procure organs for donation and the need to thoroughly evaluate the evidence of abuse.
Copyright © 2020 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Conflict of interest statement
POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.
Similar articles
-
Neonatal organ donation: Ethical insights and policy implications.J Neonatal Perinatal Med. 2019;12(4):369-377. doi: 10.3233/NPM-1850. J Neonatal Perinatal Med. 2019. PMID: 31256079 Review.
-
Successful organ donation in victims of child abuse.Clin Transplant. 1995 Oct;9(5):415-8. Clin Transplant. 1995. PMID: 8541636
-
The diagnosis is anencephaly and the parents ask about organ donation: now what? A guide for hospital counsel and ethics committees.West New Engl Law Rev. 1999;21(1):49-95. West New Engl Law Rev. 1999. PMID: 12774804 No abstract available.
-
Organ donation by a prisoner: legal and ethical considerations.J La State Med Soc. 2010 Jan-Feb;162(1):44-6. J La State Med Soc. 2010. PMID: 20336958
-
Gender disparity in organ donation.Gend Med. 2006 Dec;3(4):246-52. doi: 10.1016/s1550-8579(06)80213-5. Gend Med. 2006. PMID: 17582366 Review.
Cited by
-
Management of Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths in the Emergency Department:: A Family-Centered Care Protocol.Dela J Public Health. 2022 May 31;8(2):14-20. doi: 10.32481/djph.2022.05.003. eCollection 2022 May. Dela J Public Health. 2022. PMID: 35692998 Free PMC article.
Publication types
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Medical
