The group is pushing for a “presumed consent” approach to increase the pool of available organs.
“This change assumes everyone is a donor unless stated otherwise or unless people remove themselves from the organ donation list,” the June 14 task force report said, adding that Colorado, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Texas have all introduced such “opt out” legislation.
The report also notes that while 95 percent of Americans are in support of organ donation, just 58 percent are registered donors.
“We know that the vast majority of Americans do believe in organ donation, but never get to the point of filling out the form,” Aaron Waxman, MD, cardiologist at Boston-based Brigham and Women’s Hospital who helped write the task force report, told the news outlet. “This should open the door for more people to more often be donors.”
