6th transplant case afoot with only family consent, shows high pace+

TOKYO, Sept. 4 Kyodo -
The family of a man declared brain-dead Saturday in the northeastern Tohoku
region has consented to the harvesting of his organs for transplant, marking a
record seventh transplant case in a month in Japan.
The latest case involves eight transplant recipients, the most from a single
donor, not including corneas, according to the Japan Organ Transplant Network,
the only entity certified as an intermediary for organ transplants in Japan.
The revised transplant law enacted in July enables organs to be harvested from
brain-dead donors with the family's consent unless the person left instructions
to the contrary.
The law was revised as the rate of transplants had not increased under the
original 1997 law, which required potential donors to express their wishes in
writing.
Since the first family-consented donation on Aug. 9, there have been seven
cases of organ donation in Japan, a record for a single-month period. The
number includes a donation involving prior written consent.
The previous high, under the earlier law, was five cases between Jan. 9 and
Feb. 8 last year.
The latest case brings to 93 the total number of transplant donors in Japan.
The man was legally declared brain-dead at 4 a.m. Saturday, after his family
gave consent to the process on Friday, the network said.
His heart will be transplanted to a man in his 20s in Tokyo, one lung to a man
in his 20s in Okayama, another lung to a man in his 50s in Kyoto, the liver to
a woman in her 50s in Nagoya, the pancreas to a woman in her 20s in Toyoake,
Aichi Prefecture, kidneys to two men aged in their 40s to 50s in Fukushima, and
small intestine to a man in his 20s in Fukuoka.
The revised law also paved the way for children under 15 to donate organs, but
no such case has so far emerged.
==Kyodo
2010-09-04 23:18:21


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