Letter to the editor

from ROSS P STONE, Convenor, The Silent Hearts Committee Inc, Bowral NSW

I refer the article "The Human Tissue Act and its Implications for Journalists" from the Australian Coordinating Committee on Organ Registries and Donation (ACCORD) in your February 1994 issue..

As a committee representing the interests of organ donor families it has been extremely distressing for families to readily identify recipients from media reports and in direct contravention of the law.

Our concerns arise from the various stories published by the print media generally. These stories are of great human interest and by showing the happy outcomes for recipients, they promote the idea of organ donation. However, it is a "one way street", the donor family has no warning of these stories and may suffer the distress of identifying the recipient from dates, hospitals and circumstances surrounding the donation.

Where do these publications receive their information on dates and circumstances? If this information is being obtained from a hospital, it contavenes section 37 of the Human Tissues Act 1983. (At least one major hospital readily admits that it issues press releases on successful transplantation.)

There seems to be a moral responsibility for all editors to be aware of the information that is provided and the fact that divulgence of this information may be breaking the law.

It may be satisfactory for a recipient to provide their consent to providing information but where is the protection for the donor family?

We fail to see how ACCORD might offer advice on what is satisfactory for editors to print, namely "months" or "seasons", as this still does not go far enough. Donor families have and will identify with devastating results.

It is a vexed question and one that we will pursue and have taken up with governments, both state and federal. We have also written separately to at least one major magazine concerning a particular story seeking its response.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The information published in the February News was supplied by ACCORD, a reputable organisation in this area. Further debate on this subject is encouraged.

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