October 12th, 2011

A British medical group claims that offering a free funeral to those who will donate a liver, kidney or other body part upon their death will boost donation rates.  Philly.com has all the details.

In a set of recommendations published Monday, the Nuffield Council listed various ways to encourage people to donate more body parts, including organs, blood, eggs and sperm.

It suggested that Britain’s health system test the idea of paying for the funerals of people who sign up to the national organ donor register and then die after donating a body part. The free funerals would not be available to living donors, such as people who voluntarily give up a kidney, bone marrow, or liver.

“We have ruled out giving people a direct financial incentive to donate,” said Keith Rigg, a transplant surgeon at Nottingham University Hospital and an author of the report.

Rigg told reporters Monday that the free funeral idea would not benefit the donor, but might offer surviving relatives help at a difficult time. He said it was similar to what’s done in medical schools, which often cover the burial or cremation costs of people who donate their bodies for anatomy and other classes.