Defaults and Organ Donation The study of Johnson and Goldstein (2003):Johnson and Goldstein (2003): In some countries, people have to opt in that they are willing to donate an organ if they die; the default is that they do not donate an organ. In other countries, people have to opt out from donating an organwhen they die; the default is that they donate an organ. Policy makers often think that such defaults do not matter. Contributor© POSbase 2008

Defaults and Organ Donation Based on earlier research (Johnson et al., 1993), the authors reasoned that it may in fact matter what the default is. Looking up the statistics for organ donations, they found huge differences between different countries: in countries where the default was to be a donator, a higher proportion of people were potential organ donators than in countries where the default was that one was not an organ donator, and people had to opt in (see next slide). in conclusion, having the right default – that people are potential organ donators – saves lives. © POSbase 2008

Defaults and Organ Donation © POSbase 2008 Percentage of organ donators for selection of countries.