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NEJM Paper Proposes Death by Organ Donation

The proposal would let euthanasia patients donate organs before death, a move supporters say could make transplants more viable and critics call unethical.

  • A New England Journal article proposes "Death by Organ Donation," where doctors would remove organs from anesthetized euthanasia patients to cause death, an approach Robert Truog and Carter Winberg argue maximizes altruistic goals for patients already choosing to die.
  • Current standards require patients be dead before organ removal, and doctors cannot cause death during procurement. Truog notes that lethal drugs make organs, especially hearts, "much less useful for transplantation" than if organs were removed while functioning.
  • Proponent Carter Winberg says, "If there are people who want to donate organs, this would be the way to maximize their wishes and their altruistic goal to help others." Supporters believe respecting patient autonomy justifies this framework.
  • Lainie Friedman Ross calls the proposal "murder," while Lori Andrews warns, "You could be doing real damage to both the physician-assisted suicide system and the organ donation system," evoking fears of "vultures."
  • With euthanasia legal in Canada, the Netherlands, and Spain, the debate is emerging globally. Ruth Faden argues that while the concept is "creepy," critical examination suggests it may not be as "disturbing" as it first appears.
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The proposal challenges the Dead Donor Rule. It would allow surgeons to remove organs from patients even when they are alive.

·Los Angeles, United States
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El Pais broke the news in Madrid, Spain on Saturday, April 11, 2026.
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