Therapeutic use of human organs and tissues under Belgian law

In 1986 the Belgian Parliament adopted a law on the removal and transplantation of organs and tissues. Five years later, it has become clear that this law needs to be revised. The main difficulties relate to the distinction between the removal of organs for therapeutic and experimental use, which has proved to be unadministrable; the rules regulating the removal of organs from living minors; the definition of and criteria for determining death and the involvement of relatives in the decision to remove organs from dead donors. This article proposes alternative solutions, keeping in mind the need for harmonized rules on the removal of organs in a broad European perspective.