Profile of Organ Donors Not Authorized for Judicial Reasons

Abstract Loss of donors as a consequence of a coroner's refusal to authorize is an unusual problem that prevents organs becoming available for transplantation. Of 1123 effective donors, 433 (38.5%) died of accidental death. In these latter, it was therefore necessary to request judicial authorization for donation during the coroner's examination. Organ extraction was not performed because of judicial refusal in 15 of these donors (3.46% of the total number of judicial extractions requested and 1.33% of the total number of donors). Despite the lack of differences in the cause of death profile in the four provinces, large differences were noted between the provinces, with most judicial refusals in Malaga (10 refusals; 6.6% of the total judicial refusals), followed by Granada with five refusals (2.9%), Seville with two refusals (1.7%), and zero in Almería. To minimize these judicial refusals, we propose joint action protocols between transplant coordinators, judges, and coroners for these donors to be examined in the hospital prior to extraction and in the operating room during extraction. Any external lesion of judicial interest can then be examined, photographed, and evaluated.