After a death, it is possible to donate your organs or donate your body to science for teaching and research purposes. In the first case, everyone is presumed to have given their consent but registration in the national file of refusals makes it possible to oppose it. With regard to the donation of his body to science, this will must on the other hand have been formulated explicitly during his lifetime.
In France, the law says that anyone who dies is presumed to have consented to the donation of their organs after their death, even if they did not express this possibility explicitly during their lifetime. That is to say, his consent is presumed. This means that if the person has not made known his refusal during his lifetime to donate some of his organs after his death, we consider that he agrees to have his organs removed at his death, that he they are organs per se or tissues likely to be removed.
But, if a person does not agree to donate their organs after their death, they must make this known during their lifetime by registering on the national organ donation refusal register. This process is possible on the registernationaldesrefus.fr site managed by the Biomedicine Agency, a State agency under the supervision of the Ministry of Health. Anyone aged 13 and over can register on this register. The organ removal refusal can be revoked at any time.
You can also for this purpose announce your refusal to donate your organs after your death using a written document dated and signed by you and which you entrust to one of your relatives. In the case of people who are no longer able to write down their wishes themselves, "two witnesses will be able to attest that the document drawn up by a third party corresponds to the expression of your wishes “, as indicated by the Biomedicine Agency. The will to oppose organ donation following his death can also be communicated orally to relatives who must themselves attest to your wish in writing.
In all cases, at the time of death, the medical team present consults the national register of refusals to find out if the deceased is registered there. Otherwise, the latter checks whether the deceased has not asserted his opposition to organ donation in writing or orally during his lifetime. This disagreement can be revealed, in addition to registration in the national register of refusals, by the testimony of a relative, by a writing dated and signed by its duly identified author which specifies the total refusal of organ removal or restricted to certain parts of the body. In all cases, the medical team refers to the most recent expression of wishes and speaks with the relatives of the deceased.
This is why, and in order to facilitate the work of the medical team present at the time of the death, just as to relieve the relatives in this painful moment, it is preferable to think of registering during your lifetime on the national register of refusals. organ donation if you are against the idea of granting the possibility of saving lives with your organs once you die, a decision that is a fundamental freedom for everyone.
As the French Biomedicine Agency points out, "everyone is free to oppose organ donation, but you have to make it known .
If a deceased has not expressed his wish not to be the subject of an organ donation after his death, the medical teams are responsible for taking these samples. These are free for the relatives of the deceased. They do not have the possibility of knowing who will benefit from the organ donation of their loved one. For his part, the recipient of these organs does not know the identity of the donor either.
In order to proceed with the removal of organs which materialize in the form of transplants, the death of the person concerned must be certified by two doctors who must not be part of the medical team involved in the organ removal. The deceased is then kept artificially in working order and biological analyzes are carried out to find out which people are waiting for a transplant of an organ compatible with that of the deceased person.
Following the organ removal, the body of the deceased is returned to the relatives to proceed with his funeral.
Everyone, during their lifetime, and from the moment they are of age, can decide to donate their body to science for teaching and research purposes.
Unlike organ donation, this process is personal and voluntary. It must be motivated and it is necessary to have explicitly mentioned it during his lifetime. This decision must be the subject of a handwritten declaration, dated and signed by the person concerned, which must then be sent to a donation center located in a faculty of medicine close to his home, the contact details of which are available on the website. of the French Funeral Information Association (Afif).
Once this declaration has been received and registered by the donation centre, the latter sends a file to be completed with requests for more complete information and then issues a donor card.
The person who has expressed the wish to donate his body to science must then always keep his donor card with him because, in the event of death, only the original of this card must be presented to obtain authorization for the transfer. of the body in a faculty of medicine.
Namely, even if a deceased carries a donor card, the body may nevertheless be refused by the faculty of medicine in various situations, including in particular death following a road accident, suicide or any other reason likely to pose a medical-legal issue.
A person with a donor card can change their mind at any time. To do this, she must destroy this card and inform the donation center where she is registered.
The body of the deceased is not returned to the family once it has been used for teaching and research purposes. In principle, he is cremated after several months, even several years, and the ashes are scattered in a garden of remembrance or handed over to relatives if the deceased had wished.
The medical school that received the body bears the costs related to its burial or cremation, except generally the cost of transporting the body.
