Washington Revocation of Anatomical Gift Donation

Deciding to donate your organs is an enormous gift.If you are in an accident and are declared legally dead, a member of the organ procurement organization (OPO) must obtain consent from your family to donate your organs.

Can I remove myself from the registered donors list? Yes, you can change your donor status at any time. Look for an option such as "updating your status" on your state's site. If you have a donor designation on your driver's license, removing yourself from the registry will not change that.

What organs and tissues can be donated? Eight vital organs can be donated: heart, kidneys (2), pancreas, lungs (2), liver, and intestines. Hands and faces have also recently been added to the list.

What mandates that hospitals must work with a designated organ procurement organization? Federal law, specifically the National Organ Transplant Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1984, mandates that hospitals must work with a designated organ procurement organization.

If you have registered that you don't want to donate any of your organs or tissue, this may not be overruled by anyone. If you have registered that you want to be a donor, your relatives may overrule this only if they have compelling reasons to do so.

Organ donation is now the default choice.Donation is now the default, and if a person wishes not to donate, they must say so.Californians register their choice with the California Department of Motor Vehicles, which may indicate it on their driver's license or ID card.

The Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (UAGA) has been revised in 2006 to permit the use of life support systems at or near death for the purpose of maximizing procurement opportunities of organs medically suitable for transplantation.

If an individual is registered, there is legally binding permission for donation at the time of the donor's death under the UAGA, and family members do not have the right to override this decision (1). This is not only the law, as in current practice most donations proceed even over family objection (3).

The Uniform Anatomical Gift Act of 1987 The provisions of the UAGA of 1968 would ban the purchase and sale of body parts, facilitate the simplified process of obtaining authorization to retrieve organs, and ensure that medical staff establish procedures and guidelines to identify organ donors while under hospital care.