Doctors oppose organ `theft'

TWO LEADING surgeons yesterday challenged the views of a British scientist who has called for bodies to be seized after death to ease shortages in organ donors.

Professor John Harris, an international authority on bio-ethics and one of the hosts of a two-day conference on the subject, will tell delegates that the use of organs without consent is necessary to meet demand.

He argues that the distress of relatives must be weighed against the needs of the seriously ill.

But during the conference hosted by the Institute of Medicine, Law and Ethics at the University of Manchester, his views will be challenged by Dr Kiumars Bakshandeh and Professor Robert Sells.

Dr Bakshandeh, a urology and kidney surgeon in California, is calling for financial incentives such as cheaper burial and life insurance, combined with an education programme to encourage people to donate organs before and after death.

Letters, Review, page 2