Under the revised Organ Transplant Law, which went into force July 17, organ transplants are now possible from a brain-dead person of any age if the person has not openly rejected becoming a donor and if his or her family members approve. Before the revision, organs could be taken, with family approval, only from people aged 15 or over who had accepted brain death as actual death and had indicated in writing their intention of becoming donors.
On Tuesday, organs were taken from a brain-dead man in his 20s in a hospital in the Kanto region solely with the consent of his family and in the absence of any written declaration on his part of his desire to become a donor. His heart, lungs, liver, pancreas and kidneys were transplanted to five recipients.
The man was involved in a traffic accident in Chiba Prefecture. On Aug. 5, the Japan Organ Transplant Network was notified about the man. On Aug. 8, his family submitted written consent for removing organs from him and agreed to let him undergo brain-death diagnosis that is legally required prior to removal of his organs. His family said that when watching a TV program featuring organ transplants, he had said that he would like to offer his organs if he became brain dead.