Anaesthetics considerations for organ retrieval in the voluntary assisted dying patient – case report
Adam B Levin, Yashutosh Joshi, Nikunj Vaidhya, Joanne Kantianis, Peter S Macdonald · 2026
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Description
Adam Levin and four colleagues report the anesthetic management of organ retrieval from a patient who died by voluntary assisted dying. Assisted dying is now legal in several countries, and some patients choose to donate organs afterward. That combination creates moral and logistical challenges found nowhere else in transplant practice. The patient was a fifty-year-old man with end-stage amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. He underwent assisted dying and became an organ donor.
The report describes the anesthetic and logistical choices during procurement. The anesthetist's role is unusual here: no patient comfort after death, but dignity, timing, and organ quality all depend on their planning. Psychosocial implications for staff and family are briefly addressed. As assisted dying spreads, retrieval teams need precedents like this one to build protocols on.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Adam B Levin, Yashutosh Joshi, Nikunj Vaidhya, Joanne Kantianis, Peter S Macdonald |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 15 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |