There is already a shortage of organs, with 6 per cent fewer organs available in 1996 than in 1995. A new regulatory body might also have to be set up to control the supply of tissue for research. Donations for transplants are regulated by the Transplant Support Services Authority in Bristol, the same body that administers the official donor card scheme. British pharmaceuticals companies are keen to acquire human tissue locally for medical research. A repository in Leicester that collects tissue for research cannot meet demand.
Groups campaigning for an end to animal experiments also support the move.
One British charity, Animal Aid, has introduced its own donor card scheme for people to offer their tissue for research, but the scheme has no legal status. The health department's decision to re-examine the wording of donor cards is welcomed by both constituencies. But even if the wording changes there is still the problem that one-quarter of the families of people who have signed donor cards veto requests to use their organs. Some experts argue that more radical changes are needed to end the shortage of organs. Ian Kennedy, professor of medical law and ethics at King's College London, says he would change the law so that dead people's tissues could automatically be transplanted or used for research unless they had specified otherwise.