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Opt-Out Organ Donation System — SCE Palliative Medicine MCQ

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HardLegal & Ethical FrameworkOpt-Out Organ Donation SystemSCE Palliative Medicine

An adult ordinarily resident in England for several years dies in circumstances where donation is possible. He neither opted in nor opted out and was not in an excluded group. What consent position applies?

Educational content. Not a substitute for clinical judgement or local policy.

Reveal the answer and explanation

Correct answer: B — Deemed consent after family consultation and checks for contrary wishes

Explanation lettering: C = shown as A · E = shown as B · A = shown as C · B = shown as E

E is correct. England’s opt-out framework permits deemed consent for eligible adults who have not recorded a decision, but exclusions and evidence of the person’s actual wishes must be checked and the family remains central to that discussion. A invents a place-of-death rule, B describes the old system, C confuses presumed agreement with compulsion, and D removes the required effort to understand the person’s decision.

Reference: NHS Blood and Transplant: opt-out system: https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/about-organ-donation/faq/what-is-the-opt-out-system/