Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Legislative proposal in Italy to facilitate contacts between deceased organ donor families and transplant recipients

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Journal of Nephrology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Contacts between organ donors and recipients might be possible in the near future in Italy. As suggested by The Italian Committee of Bioethics “anonymity is requested by the Italian National Transplant Centre” before transplantation anonymity shall be strict in order to grant privacy, gratuity, justice, solidarity and benefits and avoids organ trafficking. Following a period that is ethically correct and justifiable, organ donor families and recipients can meet after signing a valid declaration of consent, expressed on a template valid for the whole country. A third party within the body of the National Health Systems shall control the validity of the consent. The opinion stresses that contacts are not a right but a possibility justifiable on ethical grounds if the procedure is followed appropriately. A legislative proposal has been presented before the Chamber of deputies incorporating all suggestions made by the National Committee of Bioethics. The agreement between parties might be signed a year after transplantation. This is a long enough period of time for the recipients to fully appreciate the benefits of the procedure and for the donor families to see the effects of their decision (the opinion and the Law proposal hit the Zeitgeist, and keep Italy in the regulation of European Union).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. (2010) WHO Guiding Principles on human cells, tissue and organ transplantation 1. Accessed 8 Apr 2020

  2. Guide to safety and quality assurance for organs, tissues and cells 3rd edition & addendum, Council of Europe, Strasbourg (2009) Traceability there must be a system in place that enables the path taken by each donation to be traced, from the donor to recipient/disposal and vice versa. This system must fully respect the confidentiality of both donor and recipient, p 19

  3. Dicks SG, Northam H, Maran FMP, Boer DP (2018) An exploration of the relationship between families of deceased organ donors and transplant recipients: a systematic review and qualitative synthesis. Health Psychol Open 5(1):2055102918782172. https://doi.org/10.1177/2055102918782172

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Annema C, Den Dries SO, Ranchor AV et al (2015) The opinion of Dutch liver transplant recipients about anonymity of organ donation and their wish to get in touch with the donor’s relatives. Transplant Int 99(4):879–884. https://doi.org/10.1097/tp.0000000000000394

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Martin D (2017) Report on the Community Consultative Forum: Contact between donor families and transplant recipients: Friday 17 March, Melbourne, Victoria. Australian Government Tissue and Cell Authority. https://www.donatelife.gov.au/annalreports.ISSN-381x

  6. Harris S (2014) Miracle meeting with transplant recipient lets mother feel dead son’s heart beat again. The express 2014 July 10. http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/487952/Heart-transplant-recipient-meetsorgan-donor-s-mum

  7. Alexander H (2015) Lung transplant recipient meets her organ donor’s family. The Sydney Morning Herald. November 15. http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/lung-transplant-recipient-meets-herorgan-donors-family-20151112-gkxtvn.html31

  8. Gregoire L (2016). How organ donation brought two families together. Today’s Parent. http://www.todaysparent.com/family/organdonation-brought-two-families-together/. Accessed 26 Aug 2016

  9. Bryce D (2016) Local family meets recipients of daughter’s gift of organ donations. Idaho State J. http://idahostatejournal.com/members/local-family-meets-recipients-of-daughter-sgift-of-organ/article_45187391-a9a2-548e-bc2d-fee6ece9aa5c.html. Accessed June 2011

  10. Serafini L (2019) Il grande cuore di Frizzi: salvò la vita a una ragazza donandole il midollo osseo. Una giovane siciliana malata di leucemia scoprì, anni dopo il trapianto di midollo osseo, che il suo donatore era Fabrizio Frizzi. TPI.it 2/5

  11. Azuri P, Tabak N, Kreitler S (2013) Contact between deceased donors’ families and organ recipients. Prog Transpl 23:342–349

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Commission of European Communities, Brussels, 30.5.2007 SEC(2007)704 Commission Staff Working Document to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the council Organ Donation and Transplantation: Policy Actions at EU level Impact Assessment[Com (2007)275, Final(SEC82007)705)

  13. Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on standards of quality and safety of human organs intended for transplantation {COM(2008) 819 final} {SEC(2008)2956} {SEC(2008)2957}/* COM/2008/0818 final—COD 2008/0238 */

  14. S. I. No. 325/2012—European Union (Quality and Safety of Human Organs intended for Transplantation) Regulations 2012

  15. S.I. No. 198/2014—European Union (Quality and Safety of Human Organs Intended for Transplantation) (Amendment) Regulations 2014

  16. Commission Staff Working Document on the implementation of the principle of voluntary and unpaid donation for human tissues and cells Accompanying the document Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European economic and social Committee and the Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the implementation of Directives 2004/23/EC, 2006/17/EC and 2006/86/EC setting standards of quality and safety for human tissues and cells {COM(2016) 223 final} {SWD(2016) 127 final}.EU Document 2016, p.26

  17. Council of Europe (Facts Sheet pp. 3-4, http://www.coe.int. Accessed 8 Apr 2018

  18. Dobbels F, Van Gelder F, Remans K, Verkinderen A, Peeters J, Pirenne J, Nevens F (2009) Should the law on anonymity of organ donation be changed? The perception of liver transplant recipients. Clin Transplant 23(3):375–381

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Mamode N, Lennerling A, Citterio F et al (2013) Anonymity and live-donor transplantation. An ELPAT view. Transplantation 95:536–541

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. https://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/who-we-are/ Accessed 8 Apr 2020

  21. Arredondoa E, López-Fragab M, Chatzixirosc E, Senemaudd B, Brezovskye P, Carella C et al (2018) Council of Europe black sea area project: international cooperation for the development of activities related to donation and transplantation of organs in the region. Transplant Proc 50:374–381

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Ono VC, Ramalho FS, Rocha JN, Martins ACP, Ramalho LNZ, Zucoloto S, Martinelli ALC, Castro-e-Silva O (2008) Communication between organ donor families and recipients: a definitely controversial subject. Transplant Proc 40(3):663–664. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.transproceed.2008.02.033

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Gewarges M, Poole J, De Luca E, Shildrick M, Abbey S, Mauthner O, Ross H (2015) Canadian Society of transplantation members’ views on anonymity in organ donation and transplantation. Transplant Proc 47(10):2799–2804

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Lewino D, Stocks L, Cole G (1996) Interaction of organ donor families and recipients. Prog Transpl 6(4):191–195

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Albert P (1998) Direct contact between donor families and recipients: crisis or consolation? J Transpl Coord 8(3):139–144. https://doi.org/10.7182/prtr.1.8.3.076j751573j23868 (PMID: 9866542)

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. National Kidney Foundation of USA (1997) National Communication guidelines. I. Communications between health care professionals and donor family members of deceased donors and transplant recipients. II. Living donation: communication between living non-directed donors and transplant candidates or recipients. https://www.kidney.org/transplantation/donorfamilies/infoPolicyGuidelines#hcp. Accessed 8 Apr 2020

  27. Politosky G, Cooligan M, Casey K (1996) Perspectives on communication issues among transplant and procurement professionals, transplant recipients, and donor families. J Transpl Coord 6:78–83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Clayville L (1999) When donor families and organ recipients meet. J Transpl Coord 9(2):81–86

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Larson SM, Beals H, Halimi J (2017) Supporting Donation by Encouraging Correspondence Between Donor Family Members and Transplant Recipients Department of Partner & Community Relations, LifeSource, Minneapolis, MN, USA. In: Abstract at the 14th congress of international society for organs donation and procurement, Geneva, September 6–9

  30. Kandel I, Merrick J (2007) Organ transplants. Contact between the donor family and recipient. Int J Disabil Hum Dev 6(1):21–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Gill P (2012) In Israel, most families of cadaver organ donors and transplant recipients who had made contact wanted transplant coordinators to facilitate this contact. Evid Based Nurs 15(4):110–111. https://doi.org/10.1136/ebnurs-2012-100773

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. De Santo NG, Scarabelli A, Citterio F,De Santo LS, De Rosa G (2014) The Italian Places of Nicholas Green 20 years after his assassination. G Ital Nefrol 31(3):gin/31.3.10. ISSN 1724-559

  33. Green R, De Rosa G, Scarabelli A, De Santo LS, Citterio F, De Santo NG (2014) The murder of nicholas green: organ donation 20 years later. Am J Kidney Dis 64(4):A17–A19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Green R (2018) Esposizione al Comitato Nazionale di Bioetica. G Ital Nefrol 35(4):1–19

    Google Scholar 

  35. De Santo NG, De Santo RM (2018) Avvocato Gerardo Marotta (Naples April 26, 1927–January 25, 2017): in memoriam. G Ital Nefrol 35 (Supplement 70). ISSN 1724-5990

  36. Galbiati M, Melesi L (2018) Il tuo cuore la mia stella. Mondadori, Milan

    Google Scholar 

  37. Nanni Costa A (2018) Ecco perché tuteliamo l’anonimato. https://www.vanityfair.it/news/diritti/2018/04/15/donazione-organi-ecco-perche-tutelarelanonimato?utm_campaign=vanityfair&utm_medium=marketing&utm_source=Twitter#link_time=15237796

  38. De Santo RM, De Santo S (2019) Narrative medicine for reducing opposition to organ donation. Nephrol Dial Transplant 34(S1):gfz103.SP823. https://doi.org/10.1093/ndt/gfz103.SP823

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Italian Committee for Bioethics (2018) Anonymity of organ donors and receivers (requested by the Italian National Transplant Centre). http://bioetica.governo.it/en/works/opinions-responses/anonymity-of-organ-donors-and-receivers-requested-by-the-italian-national-transplant-centre/. Accessed 27 Sep 2018

  40. De Santo NG, Citterio F, De Santo LS, Venditti G, De Rosa G, Biagio Di Iorio B, Capasso GB (2018) Laws regulating transplantation should express the contemporaneity. Questions to the constitutionalist Francesco Paolo Casavola and to the philosophers Remo Bodei and Aldo Masullo about the possibility deciding the destiny of one’s own organs at the time one decides on how to die and on contacts between donor families and recipients. G Ital Nefrol 35(6)

  41. Petrini C, Green G (2019) Organ donor families should be free to meet their recipients under controlled conditions if both sides wish, Italian National Committee for Bioethics says. Ann Ist Super Sanità 55(1):6–9. https://doi.org/10.4415/ANN_19_01_03

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Oliver E, Moreno G, Grinyo JM (2020) Anonymity of organ donors under discussion. G Ital Nefrol 36(6)

Download references

Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to The Italian Institute of Philosophical Studies and the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli for starting Survival Is Not Enough in 2007 and for nurturing it over the years. Thanks are also due to the Universities of Messina, Foggia, Bari, Athens, KOSICE Gaziantep, Istanbul and Cairo, Lyceum Manzoni Caserta, ISISS Novelli Marcianise, Perrino Hospital Brindisi, AIDO Caserta, and Biogem Scarl at Ariano Irpino for outstanding meetings dedicated to Survival is not Enough where the topic was debated for years. The paper is dedicated to the memory of the late philosophers Gerardo Marotta, Aniello Montano, Remo Bodei and Aldo Masullo who have campaigned for rendering contacts possible in Italy. The final thanks is for Professor Joseph Sepe, Professor of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland Global Campus, USA, Adjunct Professor—Department of Mathematics and Physics University of Campania, Luigi Vanvitelli, Naples, Italy for helping us to say what we wanted to say so well in English.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Emeritus Professor, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Pansini 5, Policlinico Pad 17, 80131, Naples, Italy

    Natale Gaspare De Santo

  2. Department of Nephrology, University Federico II, Naples, Italy

    Massimo Cirillo

  3. Division of Heart Surgery, Department of Translational Medical Sciences, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Naples, Italy

    Luca S. De Santo

  4. Department of Dialysis and Transplantation, The Urology and Nephrology Center, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt

    Mohamed Hamed Abbas

  5. Istituto Comprensivo A. Ruggiero, Caserta, Italy

    Giusy De Rosa

  6. Department of Medicine, Clinical Center University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

    Halima Resic

  7. Department of Translational Medical Sciences, Chair of Nephrology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Naples, Italy

    Alessandra F. Perna

  8. University Department of Nephrology, Medical Faculty, University of Skopje, Skopje, 1000, North Macedonia

    Goce Spasovski

  9. Department of Surgery, University Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy

    Franco Citterio

  10. Division of Nephrology Veneziale Hospital, Isernia, Italy

    Guglielmo Venditti

  11. Division of Pediatric Nephrology and Rheumatology, Aydin University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Ayse Balat

  12. Chair of General Surgery, University Luigi Vanvitelli, Naples, Italy

    Luigi Santini

  13. Emeritus Professor of Moral Philosophy, University Federico II, Naples, Italy

    Aldo Masullo

  14. Emeritus President of the Constitutional Court, Naples, Italy

    Francesco Paolo Casavola

  15. Presidency Biogem, Ariano Irpino, Italy

    Ortensio Zecchino

  16. Division of Nephrology, Moscati Hospital, Avellino, Italy

    Biagio Di Iorio

  17. Department of Translational Medical Sciences, University of Campania L. Vanvitelli, Naples, and Biogem Scarl, Ariano Irpino, Italy

    Giovambattista Capasso

Authors
  1. Natale Gaspare De Santo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Massimo Cirillo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Luca S. De Santo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Mohamed Hamed Abbas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Giusy De Rosa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Halima Resic
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Alessandra F. Perna
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Goce Spasovski
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Franco Citterio
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Guglielmo Venditti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Ayse Balat
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Luigi Santini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. Aldo Masullo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. Francesco Paolo Casavola
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  15. Ortensio Zecchino
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  16. Biagio Di Iorio
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  17. Giovambattista Capasso
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Natale Gaspare De Santo.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

There are no ethical issues.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

De Santo, N.G., Cirillo, M., De Santo, L.S. et al. Legislative proposal in Italy to facilitate contacts between deceased organ donor families and transplant recipients. J Nephrol 33, 1333–1342 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40620-020-00824-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40620-020-00824-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation