The NHS is not going to sell organs their remit strictly forbids it & this government will not change the rules to allow it either.(David Cameron probably would though after all Maggie sold off our heritage & resources & her late hubby made a killing from it too)

Organs harvested from deceased persons are not sold in the medical world(China is a different matter)Organs that travel out of out of the country of origin are not bought & sold, they are first tissued typed & if a close enough match is found in the UK then they are used in the UK if there isn't then the search spreads worldwide & no money changes hands anywhere along the line.

I donated two lots of bone marrow, one in the UK & one abroad & apart from having my travel provided for me abroad I got nothing & I know the NHS/Government got nothing either.

BTW re Ian Huntley-he would not be put on any transplant list as his "problem"(not stated to be lifethreatening at this time)was self inflicted, I would think no transplant surgeon would be willing to do the operation.

i would work on the principle that should i need an organ in my future then i would sincerely hope that some kind soul has signed that card to provide me with one. I think its very hypocritical to be willing to accept an organ from someone but not be willing to give one if you were no longer requiring it !!!

and the same would apply for my child, imagine that your child desperately needed a transplant and there was nothing available - if one became available you would move heaven and earth to try to get it.

I for one, wouldn't be a hypocrite, I don't want an organ from anyone else either, I believe when my time's up, my time's up sort of thing, but then I'm not 19 years old, where I probably might think differently? If someone VERY close to me needed one of my kidneys, then I'd probably go down that route, but that's when I'm alive. When I'm dead, I still want what's mine, I don't want to be cut up, I've got a real phobia about it!

thats fair enough - i wasnt gettign at you or anything helen - i just think that people need to realise that the tables could be turned - i am only 30 - and i have a baby - if something made me ill that i needed a transplant - damn right i would take it !

I quite understand how you feel, and that's why my husband gives blood every month, and I would do this too if they let me, but they won't (heart problem, low blood pressure etc.!) I'd give the shirt off my back to somebody who was in need whilst I'm alive, but sorry,not when I'm dead it's all mine then!!

I'm ridiculously heavily into the afterlife, and spiritualism, and I remember hearing about a psychic who had contact with a dead person (yeah, I know!!!! but I believe in all that!!!)and this poor soul was wandering the earth trying to find his head which had been decapitated in an accident and wasn't buried with the rest of his body! Eventually they found the head, buried it with his body and I suppose he ended up a happy soul! Now you might laugh at that, but that's why I don't want any bits missing when I'm 6ft. under and have to spend eternity searching for them! Lol!

What about the 'hypocratic oath' or whatever it's called. I always thought that required doctors to treat anyone, now you're telling me they can 'decline' to do a life saving operation The media would surely have a field day if this ever got out wouldn't they

I dont carry, but agree with i don't need it so if it helps some one else.
As for the child, when we lost justin we wasn't asked.
Although an heart/lung transplant could have been the only thing that would have saved him.
So i have mixed feelings.

Doctors aren't required to take the Hypocratic oath any more, and haven't been for some time. I also think the oath bound them to not knowingly cause harm, but they can certainly refuse to treat a patient.

If we're going to get on to people "worthy" to receive treatment, where do you draw the line? Murderers? Tax dodgers? Alcoholics? Smokers? Non-christians? Tory voters? We can all make "moral" judgements against people, but we do not have the right to decide whether they live or die. How the hell could something so hand-wavy be written into the law?

Easy - If you've done time in jail you ain't getting any of my body parts, end of story. It's my body and no one, is going to tell me what I can or can't do with it after my death.
You, and others no doubt, might be happy for your liver or whatever to end up in a paedophile but I am not, and I don't believe that a crooked transplant surgeon wouldn't operate on a paedophile (for money obviously) and please don't say there are no crooked transplant surgeons.

this young girl lived a few miles from me her parents made a very brave decision which i think has helped them in their grief. i do carry a card and have told my next of kin my hubby doesnt and is not sure so ive told him ill let them take them as he will not need them!