Should Australia implement regulatory changes to include Normothermic Regional Perfusion in organ donation and change our definition of death?

The idea that thoraco-abdominal normothermic regional perfusion (TA-NRP) violates s33 of the Human Tissue Act and standard organ donation practices inherently does not address current systemic gaps already existing within the Australian legislation concerning death determination. Prevailing controversies surrounding TA-NRP reflect historical social prejudices, a necessity for better training to educate and communicate information about organ donation, as well as the ambiguous Australian legislative definition of death. The debate around TA-NRP is not about the future of organ donation, but centers around its very foundation. After culminating various perspectives on circulatory and neurological death from James Bernat to Robert Truog, comparing Australian, United Kingdom, Canadian and American definitions of death (including the interpretations of the word ‘irreversible’), as well as providing contemporary perspectives from medical practitioners on the physical and social effects of TA-NRP, this comprehensive review aims to provide an objective account of what TA-NRP exposes to be vulnerabilities in Australian organ donation today.