[Organ transplant. The legislative response in Latin America]

This study first examines the ethical and legal aspects of various regulations that govern the procurement and transplantation of organs in 16 countries of Latin America, and reviews the declarations formulated on the subject by the World Health Organization. It then goes on to discuss specific problems concerning postmortem and inter vivo organ donations. The issues cited in connection with the former include donor consent, determination of death, and conflicts of interest on the part of persons involved in donation procedures. The latter refer to such issues as donor consent and compensation, selection of the recipient and commercialization, as well as the international exchange of organs. It is concluded that these countries need to develop more comprehensive government legislations in order to ensure solution of the problems analyzed.