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Organs donations and medical obligations

Deciding to donate organs is not an easy decision to take. The best way is always to discuss this decision with your practitioner. But what shall he/she exactly tell you?

Doctors are principally liable to pay damages to an organ donor if they have not sufficiently informed the donor about all risks prior to a living donation. The case we are talking about today it concerns a generous woman willing to help her father.

The Case:

A woman donated a kidney to her father, who suffers from renal insufficiency. After the operation, the woman suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome with “leaden fatigue and total exhaustion” and renal insufficiency as a result of the organ donation. Her father lost the transplant after about five years.

According to the Federal Court of Justice, the organ donor, whose own renal function values were already in the lower limit range preoperatively, had not been properly informed about the health consequences of the removal of the organ for her health. The doctors should also have informed her of the increased risk of the father of losing a transplant due to his previous illness. In the absence of such information, the consent given for the removal of the organs proved to be ineffective and the operation unlawful.

Judgment of the BGH of 29.01.2019
File number: VI ZR 495/16
Press release of the BGH

What do you think about this case? Are you facing similar problems? Are you also a victim of such a medical failure? Get in touch with us. We are here to help you.

Organs donations and medical obligations

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