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The Forum > Article Comments > The real hoax of organ donation > Comments

The real hoax of organ donation : Comments

By Chris Devir, published 19/6/2007

Organs that don’t get transplanted are burnt or buried: they are completely wasted.

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I think we need to have a referendum on the introduction of an OP-OUT system for organ donation. I believe it is only apathy that gives us our low donation rate as the vast majority of people agree that they would be donors.

If someone can make use of any part of my body after I'm deceased, good.

A referendum would force the politicians to take action.

I knew a recipient of a kidney transplant and the change in her health was remarkable. She had her transplant for 17 years before she got breast cancer and died.
Posted by Banjo, Tuesday, 19 June 2007 8:10:21 PM
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Celivia, my body my right. I don't have to think about anyone else but myself. My choice. And I certainly don't want some alcoholic or drug user to benefit from my lifetime of clean living only to treat my gift with their who gives a "-" attitude. I want to meet my recipient and know they are worthy. If anybody is going to be the judge of who gets my body parts it'll be me and my family will benefit with some financial security. Not left to some social dictator to play at altruism at my families expense(or anyone else's)
Posted by aqvarivs, Tuesday, 19 June 2007 11:19:38 PM
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What makes people think that an "opt-out" system, known as presumed consent is the answer to significantly increasing organ donation. Because Spain has a high donor, so therefore the answer must lie in presumed consent. I'm not so sure. Spain's high donor rate is the result of a number of factors, the least of which is presumed consent. In fact, one of the biggest contributors to organ donation is a country's mortality pattern (i.e. the number of people that die in a way which would lead to organ donation), and I would surmise that this mortality pattern differs from country to country.

I believe that presumed consent sounds great in theory, but I bet most countries that have presumed consent laws don't even use it, they still approach the next of kin for consent
Posted by kdonohue, Wednesday, 20 June 2007 1:23:41 AM
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My 22 year old daughter was killed in a road accident 8 years ago. When she was 11, she'd said, ’If anything happens to me, I want them to use all my spare parts to help people’. When the unthinkable happened we remembered. Her heart valves transformed the lives of a little English girl and a baby in Germany. Her cornea restored sight. This is a great comfort.

It IS sad there’s such a shortage of organ donors world wide. In UK, 8000 people are presently on transplant lists, waiting for organs we burn and bury every day. 450 die waiting each year. It’s not a nice thought but whenever there’s a post-mortem, pathologists cut and cut to find the cause of death.

We know from personal experience, organ donation helps ‘donor families’ as well as recipients.
Knowing someone you love gave others a second chance, gives you something to feel good about when life feels bleak..
A lady who emigrated to Australia, told me her daughter was killed in a road accident. She wrote: ‘My daughter carried a donor card. It was lost in the accident. We were so shocked, we did not remember. No one asked us about organ donation. Now all we have is her remains in the cemetery. I’d like to have thought she’d helped someone too’.

We SHOULD discuss what we’d want, with friends and family. Just one conversation is all it takes to save a life.
We’ll always ache for Zoe” but it’s a joy to see how strong and lovely Jemma’s grown. Her mother wrote telling how sick and weak her child had been; how Zoe”s heart-valve transformed her life. From hardly walking, Jemma could soon swim, dance, roller-skate and ride. Now she enjoys everything teenagers like to do. We are proud that Zoe” wanted to be a donor… and Jemma, for all she has achieved.

When you meet real people and hear their personal accounts of amazing things achieved through transplantation, you want to be a donor. Look at ‘Transforming Lives’ PDF: www.legacyoflife.org.uk.
See if the stories change the way you think
Posted by Zoe"s Mum, Wednesday, 20 June 2007 5:46:31 AM
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Good article, the author is clearly an interested party but that doesn't take away from the validity of what he writes.

Question though - what is the actual rate of organ donation from donors who can <i>actually</i> donate? Meaning that the majority of people unfortunately don't die in a way conducive to donation. Organs (certainly for such organs as liver, kidney, pancreas which don't do well with prolonged non-perfusion) need to be harvested under controlled conditions. So it is not true to say that every organ that gets burned/buried is wasted. I would be interested in knowing that stat, none of which detracts from the central point that we need higher consent rates.

Aquarivs - I have read much of what you post here and you normally come across well - on this one you are way off beam. Yes - it is your right to refuse but you have listed some ludicrous reasoning which I hope doesn't infect ill-informed readers:

1. not every organ recipient is to blame for their condition! kidney disease is rarely anyone's fault
2. smokers and drinkers don't get lungs and livers. you need to have quit and they want to be as sure as they can you won't start again. lungs are more likely to go to someone with a congenital condition like cystic fibrosis
3. money? why should you be paid for your organs? did you pay for them? did you pay for your last blood transfusion or plasma product? if you want user-pays in health, the USA is right up your alley - that's where the poor make ends meet by selling blood, sperm, whatever they can drain from themselves
Posted by stickman, Wednesday, 20 June 2007 6:10:21 AM
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It should be said that a kidney transplant costs around $16,000 and when you comsider the cost of dialysis it is staggering that governments don't push for an "opt-in" system. Dialysis doesn't cure renal failure, it just keeps people alive, but slowly the major organs will fail due to the added pressure of compensating for the kidneys. When you consider that when a person donates their organs can help up to a dozen people it seems an obvious choice.
Posted by The Professor, Wednesday, 20 June 2007 7:03:13 AM
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