However, not everyone treated using a ventilator can be an organ donor. It should not be the case that a sick person is refused help through transplantation because the view of the deceased on donation is unknown. The Swedish regulations are similar to those of many other countries. The act is based on the right of the individual to decide whether to become a donor after death and assumes that the deceased was in favour of donation if he or she has not stated otherwise. The Transplants Act applies both to deceased and living donors.
Special rules apply for living donors.
Here we are only looking at the rules which apply to deceased donors. Good results are also being achieved with lung transplants. Certain patients with severe diabetes can have a pancreas transplant or a transplant of the islets of Langerhans which produce insulin. The main uses of tissue transplants are corneas for patients with cornea diseases, skin for burns victims and heart valves for patients with various valve disorders. One deceased person can donate organs and tissue to several recipients, but many factors have to be considered.