Consensus Conference on Living Donation
Introduction
On June 1 and 2, 2000, a National Consensus Conference on Living Donor Organ Transplantation convened in Kansas City, Missouri to recommend practice guidelines for transplant physicians, primary care providers, health care planners, and all those who are concerned about the well-being of living donors.
Read NKF's news release, "Conference to Focus on Living Donor Organ Transplantation," March 22, 2000
Conference Participants
The conference was sponsored by the National Kidney Foundation, the American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, in partnership with United Resource Networks. The American Society of Nephrology provided additional support.
Participants included more than 100 representatives encompassing:
- Transplant professionals, recipients and candidates
- Ethicists
- Researchers
- Living donors
- Physicians and surgeons
- Social workers
- Transplant coordinators
Conference Conclusions
An individual who gives consent to be a living donor should be:
- Competent
- Willing to donate
- Free of coercion
- Medically and psychosocially suitable
- Fully informed of the risks and benefits as a donor
- Fully informed of the risks, benefits, and alternative treatment available to the recipient
The benefits to both the donor and the recipient must outweigh the risks associated with the donation and transplantation procedures.
Conference Publication
Participants deliberated a series of questions in seven different work groups:
- Kidney donation
- Lung donation
- Liver donation
- Informed consent
- Donor source
- Psychosocial issues
- Live organ donor registry
Each group presented its discussion items at an open session for all attendees. The information from the session helped formulate a working document that was later distributed to all participants for editing and approval. The final document, "Consensus Statement on the Live Organ Donor," was published in the December 13, 2000 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
- Download a PDF copy of the "Consensus Statement on the Live Organ Donor" now*
- Request a free copy by mail: contact us with your name and mailing address
