• Matthew J Weiss, Shane W English, Frederick D'Aragon, François Lauzier, Alexis F Turgeon, Sonny Dhanani, Lauralyn McIntyre, Sam D Shemie, Gregory Knoll, Dean A Fergusson, Samantha J Anthony, Adnan Haj-Moustafa, David Hartell, Jim Mohr, Michaël Chassé, and Canadian Critical Care Trials Group.
• CHU de Québec - Université Laval Research Center, Population Health and Optimal Health Practices Research Unit, Trauma-Emergency-Critical Care Medicine, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada. matthew-john.weiss@chudequebec.ca.
• Can J Anaesth. 2020 Mar 1; 67 (3): 313323313-323.

PurposeIntensive care physicians play an important role in the identification and referral of potential organ donors in Canada. Nevertheless, little is known about intensivists' attitudes or behaviours in situations where families override previously expressed consent to donate; nor why physicians elect not to refer patients who are potential donors to provincial organ donation organizations (physician non-referral).MethodsWe integrated questions regarding family override and physician non-referral into an online, self-administered survey of Canadian intensivists. We report results descriptively.ResultsFifty percent of targeted respondents (n = 550) participated. Fifty-five percent reported having witnessed family override situations and 44% reported having personally not referred patients who were potential donors. Fifty-six percent of respondents stated they would not pursue donation in the face of family override; 2% stated they would continue with the donation process. Fear of loss of trust in the donation system (81%) and obligation to respect the grief and desires of surrogate decision makers (71%) were frequently reported reasons to respect family override requests. Respondents who chose not to refer patients often did so based on organ dysfunction they assumed would preclude donation (59%), or a perception that the family was too distressed to consider donation (42%). No respondents reported that personally held beliefs against organ donation influenced their decision.ConclusionPhysicians caring for patients who are potential organ donors commonly encounter both family override and physician non-referral situations. Knowledge translation of optimal practices in identification and referral could help ensure that physician practices align with legal requirements and practice recommendations.

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