Factors affecting tissue and organ donation in medico-legal cases

Health care professionals have an ethical obligation to promote organ donation. Retrieval of organs and tissues from cadavers needs a boost through a holistic approach by involving the relatives of the deceased, the physicians, the transplant co-ordinators, the law enforcing agencies along with a dedicated and efficient hospital infrastructure and supporting logistics. This book describes the factors that affect tissue and organ donation in a medico-legal set up in India. The authors also found that a collaborative request made to the relatives by a team consisting of a forensic doctor along with the social worker working in the mortuary could play a pivotal role in improving the present system and promoting cadaveric tissue and organ donation.