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Drug addicts donating organs

10/12/2007

Organs are being donated by drug addicts due to a serious shortage of people who have signed the organ donation register, it has emerged.

UK Transplant, which runs the transplant programme, said between April 2002 and March 2007 a total of 450 organs were donated from 146 people with a history of drug abuse.

This accounted for about three per cent of the 14,000 organs donated during the five-year period.

In 14 of the cases of organs being taken from drug addicts, the donor had died of a drug overdose.

UK Transplant spokesperson Hywel Lloyd said surgeons "take great care to look at the organs that are on offer and have to make a decision on a case-by-case basis".

He said the figures "demonstrate the real shortage of organs that there are in this country".

"We're working hard to encourage people to sign up to the register and discuss their wishes with their family," Mr Lloyd added.

The figures have been revealed at a time when pressure has been applied for the UK's current 'opt-in' system of donation to be overhauled.

Earlier this year health secretary Alan Johnson announced a review would be held to consider an opt-out system where all people are placed on the organ donation system unless they choose not to be.

It is estimated that 8,000 people in the UK need organ donation but only 3,000 transplants are carried out each year.

About one patient dies each day waiting on the transplant list. Although there are about 13 million people on the register the actual figure of potential organs is far less as not all those registered die in a way which is suitable for organ donation.