Transfusion contracts for Jehovah's witnesesses receiving organ transplants: Ethical necessity or coercive pact?

[Extract]
Human donor organs (living and cadaveric) continue to be in short supply, and many potential transplant recipients die while waiting for an allograft to become available.1 Because the organ supply is so limited and the offering of organs is based on the generosity of patients and families, proper stewardship of these organs is an ethical obligation for transplant teams, as well as organ recipients. Preventable graft loss must be protected against, and factors that foster preventable graft loss—for example, non‐compliance must be proactively contemplated when patients are reviewed as potential transplant candidates. Post‐transplant treatment refusal is one example of behaviour that can compromise transplant success.