改正移植法適用 生かされた臓器提供の意思

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Aug. 11, 2010)
Family honored wish of man to donate organs
改正移植法適用　生かされた臓器提供の意思（8月10日付・読売社説）

A person who had not expressed in writing his wish to donate his organs was declared brain dead this week with his family's consent, and organs including his heart and lungs were to be transplanted.
　臓器提供の意思を書面では示していなかった人が、家族の承諾によって脳死と判定され、心臓や肺が他の人に移植されることになった。

The transplant operations using the organs taken from this man represent the first of their kind under the revised Organ Transplant Law, which is aimed at expanding transplant medicine.
　移植医療の拡大をめざした改正臓器移植法に基づく、初の移植手術である。

The donor is a man in his 20s who was involved in a traffic accident. He was not carrying an organ donor card, but reportedly had told his family he wanted to donate his organs if such a situation occurred.
　提供者は交通事故に遭った２０代の男性だ。意思表示カードは持っていなかったが、かねて家族に、脳死になった時には臓器提供したい、と話していたという。

His family respected his wishes, but it was certainly an extremely grave and painful decision to make.
　家族はその意思を尊重した。しかし極めて重く、つらい決断だっただろう。

This man will save a number of other people's lives, with his heart going to a man in his 20s in Osaka Prefecture, his lungs to another man in his 20s in Okayama, his liver to a woman in her 60s in Tokyo and his kidney to a teenage boy in Gunma Prefecture. This is a relay of precious human life.
　この男性は多くの人を救う。心臓は大阪で２０代の男性に、肺は岡山でやはり２０代の男性に、肝臓は東京で６０代の女性に、腎臓は群馬で１０代の男の子に。尊い命のリレーである。

More lives to be saved

Before the revised law took effect July 17, organ transplants could not be conducted unless a person expressed his or her intention to donate organs through a donor card or other written declaration.
　先月１７日に改正法が施行される以前は、本人が意思表示カードなど、書面で提供の意思を示していなければ、臓器移植は認められなかった。

In the United States and Europe, organ transplants can be made at the discretion of a person's family, as long as that person had not expressed an intention not to donate. This system has allowed thousands of organ transplants from brain-dead donors to be conducted every year in the United States and several hundred in major European nations.
　欧米などでは、本人が提供拒否の意思を示していない限り、家族の判断で臓器の提供ができる。このため、米国では年に数千例、欧州の主要国でも年間数百例の脳死移植が実施されている。

The revised law has made it possible for the family of a would-be donor in this country to have that discretion, just as in the United States and Europe.
　改正法は欧米と同様、家族の判断で臓器提供を可能にした。

Over the 13 years since the original Organ Transplant Law took effect in 1997, and before the latest case, organ transplants were performed involving 86 brain-dead donors. Under the revised law, there are expected to be as many as 30 cases or more every year.
　１９９７年に臓器移植法が施行されてからの１３年間で８６例にとどまっていた脳死移植は、今後、毎年３０例以上に増えると予測されている。

Since the revised law also allows transplants between young children, including infants, such operations also are likely to take place eventually.
いずれは、今回の改正で認められた乳幼児間の臓器移植も行われるだろう。

Safeguards must be ensured

To ensure organ transplants involving brain-dead donors are properly handled, it is important to thoroughly examine the latest case.
　臓器提供を着実に生かすには、今回のケースをきっちり検証することが重要だ。

Was the man provided with all possible treatment? Were procedures strictly followed in the pronouncement of brain death? Did his family give their consent with sufficient confidence in their decision? It is essential to strictly check all relevant points to nurture public trust in organ transplants.
　治療は完全に尽くされたか。脳死判定は厳密に行われたか。家族は十分に納得して提供に同意したか。あらゆる点を厳しく確認することは、脳死移植の信頼を培うために欠かせない。

In the latest case, the man is said to have orally expressed to his family his intention to donate his organs. It is unlikely, however, that this will commonly occur.
　今回は、本人が口頭で家族に提供意思を示していた。しかし、実際にはそうしたケースばかりではないだろう。

If a donor has not expressed his or her intentions, family members will face enormous pressure as they are asked to decide whether brain death should be declared and organs donated.
　その場合は、脳死判定の実施と臓器提供の判断を求められる家族の側に相当な負担がかかる。

Whether a potential donor explicitly expressed his or her intention is of primary importance even under the revised law.
　本人の意思がはっきりしていれば、それが第一だ。この点は改正法でも変わりはない。

There is space to make a written declaration on new driver's licenses and health insurance cards. Everyone should seriously consider whether to agree to donate organs should something leave him or her in a state of brain death.
　新たな運転免許証や健康保険証には、臓器提供意思の記入欄が設けられている。万が一、脳死に陥った時に、臓器提供を承諾するのか、拒否するのか。皆が真剣に考えておきたい。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Aug. 10, 2010)
（2010年8月10日01時15分 読売新聞）