Organ donations can legally be done privately. In all 50 states (and under federal law) you can donate an organ to a specific individual or doctor or hospital.
This is called directed donation, and it's the key to ending the organ shortage and saving thousands of lives every year. Organ donors should direct that their organs be offered first to others who have agreed to donate their own organs when they die. Those who haven't agreed to donate should go to the back of the waiting list.
If you are an organ donor and you want your organs to go to another donor, you can do this by joining a network of organ donors called LifeSharers. Membership is free and open to all at http://www.lifesharers.com/.
Leeches could become registered organ donors when they needed an organ.
Only about 30% of Americans have agreed to donate their organs when they die. The other 70% have not, yet they get 70% of the organs that are transplanted. If they're leeches, then there are already enough leeches to go around.
You'd have to come up with a fair formula
You don't need a formula unless there is a shortage. If you had to be a donor to get an organ, then just about everybody would sign up and the shortage would disappear. Even the leeches would get organs if they need one. LifeSharers helps reduce the organ shortage, and that saves lives.
Everybody has something somebody else can use. And some people ARE so desparate they would take organs from smoking alcoholics, because the alternative is death.
If no other registered donors need your organs, then they go to people who haven't registered to be donors. The last thing a donor wants is for his/her organs to go to waste.
When you are designating a group, there are legal issues.
My LifeSharers donor card doesn't designate a group. It designates an individual who happens to be a member of a group. And since you're talking about the law, that distinction is a meaningful one.
LifeSharers is not recognized by UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing) as as authority to receive or designate organs.
LifeSharers does not receive organs. LifeSharers does not designate organs either. It's members do, and under federal and state law individuals have the right to direct their organ donations. Even UNOS will tell you that.
UNOS is the only authority allowed to direct organs
This is simply not true. Your organs are yours. You can give them to whoever you want. Just the other day a man in Pennsylvania donated a kidney and he asked that it be given to a poor black person. The authorities complied with his wishes.
Currently the main factor in determining organ placement is medical need.
Medical need is only one factor involved in determining who gets organs. Another big factor is money. Many people who urgently need an organ never even get on the waiting list because they can't afford one.
If two people have similar medical needs for a particular, and one has agreed to donate their organs while the other hasn't, then the organ should be given to the person who has agreed to donate their organs. That's what LifeSharers is about.
When someone on LifeSharers dies, LifeSharers will say one thing and UNOS another.
LifeSharers is increasing the number of donors, and that saves lives. UNOS has no reason to oppose it.
Lots of very promising research is ongoing, but it won't pay off for years or even decades. In the mean time, every 90 minutes somebody dies in the United States waiting for an organ transplant. The quickest way to end the organ shortage is to increase the number of people who are willing to donate their organs. LifeSharers does that.
Lots of wonderful organizations have spent millions of dollars a year for the last 20 years on educational efforts to raise organ donation rates. All we've got to show for it is an organ shortage that gets larger every year. If education worked it would have worked already. We need to try something new, for the sake of the people dying on the waiting list. LifeSharers is worth a shot. You can join at http://www.lifesharers.com/enroll.htm
This is a good idea, but like most of the ideas for increasing organ donation rates it requires legislative action. The people who are dying waiting for organs can't wait for government action. A better way to encourage organ donation is to put organ donors at the front of the line if they ever need an organ. That's what LifeSharers does.
LifeSharers offers a very compelling trade.
You give up your organs after you die, when they aren't any use to you.
You get a better chance of getting an organ if you ever need one. It could literally mean the difference between life and death.
Like I said, a pretty compelling trade.
http://www.lifesharers.com/enroll.htm
A free market in organs would, in my opinion, solve the organ shortage. But it's illegal in the United States to buy or sell organs. LifeSharers is a legal way to encourage organ donors.
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Organ donations can legally be done privately. In all 50 states (and under federal law) you can donate an organ to a specific individual or doctor or hospital.
This is called directed donation, and it's the key to ending the organ shortage and saving thousands of lives every year. Organ donors should direct that their organs be offered first to others who have agreed to donate their own organs when they die. Those who haven't agreed to donate should go to the back of the waiting list.
If you are an organ donor and you want your organs to go to another donor, you can do this by joining a network of organ donors called LifeSharers. Membership is free and open to all at http://www.lifesharers.com/.
Only about 30% of Americans have agreed to donate their organs when they die. The other 70% have not, yet they get 70% of the organs that are transplanted. If they're leeches, then there are already enough leeches to go around.
You'd have to come up with a fair formula
You don't need a formula unless there is a shortage. If you had to be a donor to get an organ, then just about everybody would sign up and the shortage would disappear. Even the leeches would get organs if they need one. LifeSharers helps reduce the organ shortage, and that saves lives.
LifeSharers lets parents enroll their minor children.
Everybody has something somebody else can use. And some people ARE so desparate they would take organs from smoking alcoholics, because the alternative is death.
If no other registered donors need your organs, then they go to people who haven't registered to be donors. The last thing a donor wants is for his/her organs to go to waste.
Parents can enroll their children in LifeSharers.
My LifeSharers donor card doesn't designate a group. It designates an individual who happens to be a member of a group. And since you're talking about the law, that distinction is a meaningful one.
LifeSharers is not recognized by UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing) as as authority to receive or designate organs.
LifeSharers does not receive organs. LifeSharers does not designate organs either. It's members do, and under federal and state law individuals have the right to direct their organ donations. Even UNOS will tell you that.
UNOS is the only authority allowed to direct organs
This is simply not true. Your organs are yours. You can give them to whoever you want. Just the other day a man in Pennsylvania donated a kidney and he asked that it be given to a poor black person. The authorities complied with his wishes.
Currently the main factor in determining organ placement is medical need.
Medical need is only one factor involved in determining who gets organs. Another big factor is money. Many people who urgently need an organ never even get on the waiting list because they can't afford one.
If two people have similar medical needs for a particular, and one has agreed to donate their organs while the other hasn't, then the organ should be given to the person who has agreed to donate their organs. That's what LifeSharers is about.
When someone on LifeSharers dies, LifeSharers will say one thing and UNOS another.
LifeSharers is increasing the number of donors, and that saves lives. UNOS has no reason to oppose it.
Lots of very promising research is ongoing, but it won't pay off for years or even decades. In the mean time, every 90 minutes somebody dies in the United States waiting for an organ transplant. The quickest way to end the organ shortage is to increase the number of people who are willing to donate their organs. LifeSharers does that.
Lots of wonderful organizations have spent millions of dollars a year for the last 20 years on educational efforts to raise organ donation rates. All we've got to show for it is an organ shortage that gets larger every year. If education worked it would have worked already. We need to try something new, for the sake of the people dying on the waiting list. LifeSharers is worth a shot. You can join at http://www.lifesharers.com/enroll.htm
This is a good idea, but like most of the ideas for increasing organ donation rates it requires legislative action. The people who are dying waiting for organs can't wait for government action. A better way to encourage organ donation is to put organ donors at the front of the line if they ever need an organ. That's what LifeSharers does.
LifeSharers offers a very compelling trade. You give up your organs after you die, when they aren't any use to you. You get a better chance of getting an organ if you ever need one. It could literally mean the difference between life and death. Like I said, a pretty compelling trade. http://www.lifesharers.com/enroll.htm
A free market in organs would, in my opinion, solve the organ shortage. But it's illegal in the United States to buy or sell organs. LifeSharers is a legal way to encourage organ donors.