[Transplantation. Laws and regulations]

The harvesting of organs from the living or deceased for transplantation purposes is regulated by law in the Scandinavian countries. The cardinal principle is that the individual has the right to decide what surgical procedures are performed on his body both during life and after death. However, surgery may not be performed in cases scheduled for post-mortem if organ harvesting would complicate determination of the cause of death. All organ harvesting is to be done at a hospital. If the deceased has not previously in his will or verbally to relatives declared his attitude to organ donation, then the consent of the family must be sought.