Organ donation after euthanasia: a Dutch practical manual

The communication covers the following points: 1. The supply of organs donated for transplantation each year does not meet the number of patients awaiting organs 2. Organs donated are in short supply and patients awaiting transplantation have to remain on hemodialysis, an expensive and invasive procedure with unpleasant physiological, psychological, social and sometimes life threatening side effects. 3. The Dutch have developed a manual to act as a guideline in the event that a patient contemplating euthanasia wish to donate a kidney for transplantation 4. The authors of the commentary (e.g. Baines and Jindal) welcome the initiative in terms of increasing the supply of organs available for donation, but draw attention to the lack of recognition of the psychosocial issues experienced by this patient group.