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Feasibility of organ donation following voluntary assisted dying in Australia: lessons from international practice

Johannes Mulder and Hans Sonneveld
Med J Aust 2024; 220 (3): . || doi: 10.5694/mja2.52205
Published online: 19 February 2024

To the Editor: We respond to the article by Bollen and colleagues.1 In 2021, the results of an international roundtable and in‐depth literature review on the worldwide status of organ donation after euthanasia (ODE), involving eight countries including Australia, were published.2 ODE is indeed both legally and clinically feasible in Australia.2 However, Bollen and colleagues appear to underestimate the serious procedural challenges that remain. In general, their article omits the perspectives of the patient and the provider.


  • Isala Hospital, Zwolle, Netherlands


Correspondence: hanmulderode@xs4all.nl

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

  • 1. Bollen J, Hempton C, Bhatia N, Tibballs J. Feasibility of organ donation following voluntary assisted dying in Australia: lessons from international practice. Med J Aust 2023; 219: 202‐205. https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2023/219/5/feasibility‐organ‐donation‐following‐voluntary‐assisted‐dying‐australia‐lessons
  • 2. Mulder J, Sonneveld H, Van Raemdonck D, et al. Practice and challenges for organ donation after medical assistance in dying: a scoping review including the results of the first international roundtable in 2021. Am J Transplant 2022; 22: 2759‐2780.
  • 3. Mulder J. Facilitating the wishes of patients who choose both MAiD and organ donation. CMAJ 2019; 191: E595‐E596.
  • 4. Mulder H, Olthuis G, Siebelink M, et al. [Guideline ‘Organ donation following euthanasia’] [Dutch]. Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd 2017; 161: D2135.

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