"The bottom line is the organ shortage keeps getting bigger," said David Undis, executive director of a Nashville, Tenn., group that would give priority to people who have signed up as donors themselves. His solution is one of several garnering attention.
In New York, a state legislator introduced a bill in April that would assume all state residents were organ donors unless they specifically opted out. Called "presumed consent," the law would be a first for the United States, although similar policies exist in many European countries.
A similar bill introduced in Delaware in 2008 died in committee, said Arthur Caplan, a professor of bioethics at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia.
In California, a state legislator has introduced a bill that would set up a registry of people willing to be living donors of kidneys. In many cases, living donors give a kidney to a family member or loved one. But sometimes, the loved one isn't a good match. A living donor registry would help with paired exchanges, in which a living donor could swap with a stranger in return for that person's loved one offering a kidney to theirs.
The registry is being championed by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, the recipient of a donated liver, and is supported by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
While their approaches differ, on one point everyone agrees: There aren't enough organs to meet the need. In the United States, about 100,000 adults and children are waiting for organ transplants, and 18 people die each day while waiting, according to Donate Life America.
LifeSharers -- the group Undis founded -- has run an organ donor registry since 2002 in which members agree to give first preference for their organs to others who have signed up with the registry to be organ donors themselves.
As Undis puts it, "99.9 percent of us would accept a transplant if we needed one to live, but only half of us are signed up to give."
Giving donors priority is a win-win situation, he believes. "If you give them first to registered organ donors, more people will register, and fewer people will die waiting for transplants," he said.
Currently, 13,800 have signed up for LifeSharers. No organ transplants have come of it yet, Unis said.
Under the current system, U.S. residents must "opt in" to be donors. A common way of doing so is on a driver's license application or by an organ donor designation, such as a sticker, on the driver's license.
When it comes to determining who gets available organs, the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) in Richmond, Va., maintains a list of patients waiting for donated organs and oversees organ matching and placement.
While specifics vary depending on the organ, the patient's medical condition, how closely blood, tissue and the donor's size match the donor, time on the waiting list and proximity to the donor are considered, according to Donate Life America.
UNOS, which manages the nation's Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, established by Congress in 1984, takes issue with the LifeSharers' philosophy.
Its approach would "essentially punish transplant candidates who haven't made a particular personal decision," said Mandy Ames, a UNOS spokeswoman. "And while we value that particular decision, we believe the transplant system should neither reward nor punish people for their personal decisions or beliefs," she said.
Caplan said he considers the LifeSharers' concept impractical. With only about one in 1,000 deaths leading to a viable organ for transplant, millions would need to sign up to have enough organs to offer those who pledge to donate.
"I favored presumed consent approach," Caplan said. "The majority of people say they want to donate. They are not looking for priority or money. They do want to do it for altruistic reasons. Under the current system, we're not able to capture all of that altruism."
A recent report in the BMJ said nearly 300 additional organ transplants could be carried out a year if Britain adopted an "opt out" policy like the one proposed in New York.
“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario or Download Donor Cards from Trillium Gift of Life Network. NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today! For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save up to eight lives with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help 75 to 100 other people by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves
Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You
2 comments:
According to a new survey by Donate Life America 43 percent of people are undecided, reluctant or do not wish to have their organs and tissue donated after their deaths. Is this because Americans don't know there is an organ shortage? No. The survey also reports that 78 percent realize there are more people who need organ transplants in the U.S. than the number of donated organs available.
Meanwhile, the number of people who need transplants keeps growing. As of April 1, 2010, there were over 106,700 people on the national transplant waiting list. More than half of these people will die before they get a transplant, while Americans bury or cremate 20,000 transplantable organs every year.
Just about every single one of the 43% of Americans who aren't willing to register as organ donors would accept an organ transplant if they needed one to live. As long as we let non-donors jump to the front of the waiting list when they need transplants we'll always have an organ shortage.
There is a simple way to put a big dent in the organ shortage -- allocate donated organs first to people who have agreed to donate their own organs. UNOS, which manages the national organ allocation system, has the power to make this simple policy change. No legislative action is required.
Americans who want to donate their organs to other registered organ donors don't have to wait for UNOS to act. They can join LifeSharers, a non-profit network of organ donors who agree to offer their organs first to other organ donors when they die. Membership is free at www.lifesharers.org or by calling 1-888-ORGAN88. There is no age limit, parents can enroll their minor children, and no one is excluded due to any pre-existing medical condition.
Giving organs first to organ donors will save more lives by convincing more people to register as organ donors. It will also make the organ allocation system fairer. People who aren't willing to share the gift of life should go to the back of the waiting list as long as there is a shortage of organs.
That is a great way of enlightening the Americans and the whole world population really.More donors must come forward and join hands for this noble cause.
Post a Comment