UNDER new legislation, human organs should only be used in transplant operations with the donor's explicit consent.

The Organ Transplant Act, approved by Parliament on July 30, states that a patient should sign a statement included in their medical records to confirm this consent has been given. The exact procedure of verifying this consent will be defined in further legislation, to be issued after the act becomes effective.

The new law was passed despite opposition from the Health Ministry and medical community. Doctors said its introduction would harm thousands of chronically ill people who are affected by the lack of transplant organs in Bulgaria. "We will ask the President to veto the act," Standart daily quoted the National Consultant on transplant operations, Professor Petar Panchev as saying.

Under previous legislation a patient had to explicitly refuse to donate his organs, anyone who did not do so was considered a potential donor. Now, in cases where a person dies without having given their consent, their organs can be used only with the consent of close relatives of the deceased.

Panchev said that very few people would work their way through the complex process of signing the various consent documents, as required by the new act. Under the previous legislation, only 3618 Bulgarians officially refused to donate their organs after death, while the family of the deceased tend to refuse organ donation in 80 per cent of cases. Panchev said the best strategy would be a return to the principle of informed refusal that existed under the previous law.

"The new law will complicate the donor consent procedures," deputy Health Minister Petko Salchev was quoted by Dnevnik daily as saying. It was unlikely to impact on the illegal trade in human organs, he said, as this trade has never been detected in Bulgaria.

The Organ Transplant Act allows courts to impose fines of up to 500 000 leva for individuals and up to two million leva for companies involved in the trade. The act will be effective from January 1 next year.