Organ donation: a portrait of family refusal in Québec

Many studies from around the world have reported different reasons why families refuse organ donation. In Quebec, however, there are no known data on the subject. To enable us to better communicate with families, a research project was conducted from January to December 2007 in hospital centers with personnel who specialize in supporting families. Our objective was to identify the reasons why Quebecers refuse a request for organ donation. The findings demonstrate that knowing the express wishes of the deceased person about organ donation and end-of-life treatment influences the family. When these wishes are not known, the partners of older donors refuse in greater numbers, primarily for familial or circumstantial reasons. Refusal based on religion or ethnicity is rare. Some families approached before neurologic death is diagnosed do not wish to wait until all the criteria for neurologic death are met.