Organ donor card; receipt

Today's medicine can save or significantly prolong a person's life through the transplantation of donor organs or donor tissues. The personal decision to donate organs can be recorded on an organ donor card.

The organs kidney, heart, lung, liver, pancreas and small intestine can now be donated after death and transferred to other people. In addition, a kidney or parts of the liver can also be removed from living donors.

Tissues that can be transplanted include the skin, cornea of the eyes, heart valves, bones and parts of the blood vessels, meninges, bone tissue, cartilage and tendons.

There is a considerable organ shortage in Germany. Far fewer organs are transplanted per million inhabitants than in most of our neighboring countries. ''Death on the waiting list'' is a sad reality for many patients. Statistically, three people die every day in Germany for whom an organ transplant would have saved their lives.

There is considerably more demand for kidneys in particular than there are donor organs available. As of December 31, 2024, 871 patients from Bavaria were waiting for a donor kidney transplant (source: Eurotransplant). The average waiting time for a kidney transplant in Germany is 8.9 years (source: Eurotransplant Kidney Allocation System).

It is therefore extremely important that every citizen thinks about their personal attitude to organ donation after death and documents their decision, if possible online in the organ donation register or in an organ donor card. The organ donation register(www.organspende-register.de) is a central electronic directory. The decision for or against organ and tissue donation can be entered online here. In order to be able to make the decision, you must first identify yourself using the online ID function of your ID card, the electronic residence permit or the eID card. Furthermore, those with statutory health insurance can be entered in the organ donation register via their health insurance app or the electronic patient file. Entry in the organ donation register is voluntary and free of charge. An organ donor card that meets the requirements of the Transplantation Act is also suitable for documentation. This form already contains all legally relevant questions, which can be answered by simply ticking a box and confirming with a signature. A decision for or against organ donation can also be made as part of a living will. Documenting the decision for or against organ donation also relieves the burden on relatives who would otherwise have to make the decision.

In the organ donation register and in an organ donor card, both consent and refusal or a restriction of the donation to individual organs and tissues can be recorded. Once a decision has been made, it can be changed at any time, for example by destroying the organ donor card. A new card can also be filled out at any time. The entry in the organ donation register can also be changed or deleted online at any time.

Organ donor cards are available from all health authorities, health insurance companies, many doctors, pharmacies and residents' registration offices.

Requirements for organ removal

The prerequisite for organ removal from a dead donor is, firstly, that the irreversible loss of brain function (brain death) of the organ donor has been reliably established.

According to the Transplantation Act, a person is deemed to have died in the event of a definitive, irreversible loss of the overall function of the cerebrum, cerebellum and brain stem, i.e. total brain death. This must be diagnosed by two qualified doctors in independent examinations in accordance with the guidelines of the German Medical Association. These doctors must not be involved in the removal or transfer of the organs.

A further requirement is that either the organ donor himself has consented to organ donation during his lifetime (for example by completing an organ donor card) or, if the organ donor's wishes are not known, his next of kin consents to organ removal in accordance with the presumed wishes of the deceased (so-called extended consent solution).