Have You Signed An Organ Donor Card, And If Not, Why?

It's obvious that once you're dead you don't need them anymore, and it seems like such a waste to dump useful parts into the ground or toss them in the fire for cremation.

I did a brief survey by asking a few friends, but not one of them has a donor card in their wallet or checked the box on their drivers license. When I ask why I inevitably get the yuck response, or the ewwww !!! they're going to chop me up when I die.

As for myself, I've donated my entire body to one of the top medical schools in my country in the hope that students will learn something from my demise and through that be able to help others. I've agreed for them to use any useful parts of my body for transplant or research and use my entire body for education.

I just feel that if my empty husk can help anyone else after I'm done with it, it's the right thing to do.

So what do you say, are you taking it with you, or are you going to leave a final gift to complete strangers, a gift that could change their lives ?


I'm really curious what objections people have to this.



[edit on 22/3/2008 by anxietydisorder]

Yes I have. I did so many years ago. It's on my drivers license.

Also - I registered with the bone marrow folks. That's a bodily donation that lots of folks forget to do. The good thing is that you don't have to die before you donate!

So far, I haven't been called upon to donate bone marrow.

I'm not aware of any organ donor card being available locally. I am listed as an organ donor on my drivers license . The stupid thing is that in the event of my death my Mums permission is required before my organs can be donated . My Mum knows that in the event of the worst I am happy to donate my organs if they are in a usable state.

Originally posted by xpert11
The stupid thing is that in the event of my death my Mums permission is required before my organs can be donated.

I know some jurisdictions require a family member to sign off on it even if you've given consent, not so in Ontario though.
I did a separate "Power Of Attorney" for my husband if he wants to over-ride my choices, I keep that document with my Will. He understands why I wanted to be disposed of this way, and really, my second choice would have been to be put to the curb on garbage day.

I hope my friends drink a toast to me after I die, but I don't want anyone to spend a nickel on a funeral. I think they're such a waste of money.

Recycle folks, who knows where those parts could end up.

Originally posted by FlyersFan
I registered with the bone marrow folks. That's a bodily donation that lots of folks forget to do. The good thing is that you don't have to die before you donate!

Good for you FlyersFan.

What do you need to do to become a marrow donor ?
Is it just a blood test to register, or do they need to dig out some marrow ?

In this case the failing is with New Zealand law . The only death related issue I have is deciding how and where I want my favourite resting place to be . BTW its nice to have a thread on AP that isnt the usual partisan debates.

Cheers xpert11.

Originally posted by anxietydisorder
What do you need to do to become a marrow donor ? Is it just a blood test to register, or do they need to dig out some marrow ?

It's just a simple blood test. I had mine done in Connecticut.
Sometimes your doctor can do it. Some doctors don't take blood
so you will have to check with the bone marrow folks.

www.marrow.org...

Good luck! You may save a cancer patients life if called upon!

This is how healthy people have unfortunate accidents and rich people get the organ they at just the right time. The black market organ issues is bigger than most people think. Given all the database compilation activity that is going on these days- if someone makes a mistake how easy would it be for them to experience and unfortunate accident.

I used to be an organ donor- but now I smoke and drink and have relatively bad eating habits so I doubt my organs would be of any use- so I opted out. If I were "healthier I would have opted out as well because although witty and conspiratorial as my first paragraph was intended to be- how untrustworthy the powers that be are and given the government does not care about the people in general- they would have to really clean their act up before we had a conversation about my kidneys!.

Also given technology today and the fact that via drivers licenses the information about our entire medical history and physical biology down to the last chromosome gives rise to my only other fear on this issue. For me about the only physical characteristic I have going for me if my penis and some rich, hung like a hamster elitist may find a need for my having a car accident- This is an attachment I am not willing to discuss or risk given speculative conspiracy theories which might actually turn out to be true. A "magic bullet" eulogy regarding the loss of my personal appendages is not what I wish to be remembered for.

DISCLAIMER!!!

PS- Please do not be offended in any way- its not like I said I was hung like a horse (inside extreme avatar humor!)

[edit on 24-3-2008 by dk3000]

Yes, I have that I would like to donate my organs on my drivers license.

I think it's only fair because I feel that one day I may need a new liver.

I hate to say it, but I just can't bring myself to check that box for two reasons.

One has to do with what dk3000 expressed, but the other is more because I can't even bring myself to give blood anymore with a clear concience. I have had an undiagnosed condition since the early 90's. I personally think it's related to Lyme disease, but there are so many other possible culprits. Whatever it is, I honestly would be concerned that it can be passed on.

For the same reasons, I would have serious concerns receiving an organ. I just think there is way too much unexplained illness out there at this point that can't be screened for. Extending a life with no quality of life? Not for me.

For the record, I believe in God and I don't view this world as something to cling to beyond whatever he plans for me.

I have not. I will do so under conditions no organ donation organizations can agree to. There is an issue of contract law in this mix and I don't want to get too technical. There is a simple explanation of why I will not.

If I donate something - I want it donated to the recipient not "SOLD". End of condition.

You would think that would be fairly easy to accommodate wouldn't you? They won't do it - the profiteers, with the complicity and support of the AMA and hospitals (around the WORLD) have created a new 'business opportunity' in the dealing of human flesh. They market it in such a manner as to make certain that to resist their 'business model' is to be a heartless prick who is selfish and should burn in hell.

I refuse to allow anyone to 'decide' for me who is 'worthy' of the 'donation' and under what circumstances the 'donation' will be given. This differs greatly from the scenario where you or your family know of the need of another and gallantly provides a potential solution - which seems to happen only rarely nowadays. Mostly now, some faceless bureaucrat determines the disposition of you quarter of a million dollar liver - and it will NOT be out of kindness that the determination is made.

I work at a research hospital, I know people who have been waiting and suffering for many years, waiting for transplants (which have been available again and again). I have been 'ordered' and 'regulated' into remaining still and silent regarding such decisions (privacy of the recipient). It is shameful and I won't participate in the 'business' of the organ market by providing them with more organs and a carte blanch.

By the way, does anyone here have any idea how much money is generated for hospitals via blood donations? They never paid me for the blood, but they sure as heck make everyone else pay for it. What is it about 'donation' that means one thing to me and another to the medical industry?

Some excellent contributions to this discussion.

It actually gives me a third reason not to sign off on this, as I agree. In the end it's not a donation if someone has to pay for it.

reply to post by anxietydisorder


Now I know that once I am dead I will not be embalmed with my organs seperated, and processioned into my pyramid. Honestly if I'm dead I don't care and would want my organs given to people who could use them. But I just don't trust the doctors. I want them entirely focused on fixing me not hey theres a boy in Cleveland who could use these lungs.

The biggest objection I'm seeing so far is that someone will profit from your parts, or that some unscrupulous Doctor may bump you off before your time to steal organs that can be profited on.

Yes, it's still a donation in the sense that you or your estate does not profit from the parts taken for transplant or research. And yes, there is the concern that all available medical procedures won't be followed to ensure your survival if organs have as much value that others are willing to pay anything to get them.

The last is important, you can't have care providers bumping off patients just because one is more profitable than the other. I hope that's rare, I hope it's really rare, even one case of that is too many.

I understand that in most countries that the medical industry needs to make a profit. That's not the case in my country because we have universal health care and cost is not a factor when you see a Doctor or need to spend time in hospital.

My choice of donating my entire body to a teaching medical University was the best choice I could make in good conscience. No hospital can cut me up for parts, and I have a standing order of no autopsy unless I die under suspicious circumstances.
The University has first claim on my remains after I'm gone and will transport my body to their facility upon my death.

I just figure it's the last gift I can give upon my death that is totally selfless, and the school I chose has trained members of my family that have gone on to do great things in the field of medicine.


I also recycle my tins, plastic, and newspapers.
Why not recycle my body when I'm done with it ?

(trust this to be the first I can respond to as a new widow...)

Yeap, I'm listed as a donor.

Why?

Myriad reasons.

1) I wanted to "give back" after I was dead, even as a teen. We just didn't freely have this option in England at the time.
2) My late DH needed a heart and kidney transplant; unfortunately he was a candidate for neither, even though I'd have given my last breath to that man.
3) Uh..it's not like I can USE those organs after I'm dead...

As many posters will attest, I'm known for not only resurrecting dead threads, but killing 'em completely.

Hi, my name is Tess, and I'm not exactly new here

I am listed as an organ donor on my drivers license. And I am on the bone marrow registry. (6 years now, and no one wants my marrow yet. I feel a little slighted) I also give blood as often as I am able.

The only thing that has ever crossed my mind about being an organ donor that might be construed as negative is; if someone important in desperate need of an organ is a match for you, and you are in a coma, what are the odds they might hasten your demise? Lol. Not that it is a big deal, if I am in a coma I guess I wouldnt care either way, but it has crossed my mind.

Edit; One other thing that has always bothered me about the whole organ donor thing is when I have seen people waiting for transplants interviewed, some of them seem so eager for someone to die. Some even seem annoyed that the right person isnt dying fast enough. That always seems a little ghoulish to me.

[edit on 18-5-2008 by Illusionsaregrander]

Because I've donated my entire body to a medical school I wanted to show that there is a definite need just so we can train new doctors.

For human dissection needs, the body count is low
Organizations that distribute cadavers to medical and undergraduate schools say there aren't enough to go around.

By DeeDee Correll, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

May 25, 2008, 7:34 PM MDT

DENVER — Jonathan Dameworth haunts his professor's office three times a week, trying to wheedle his way into a human dissection class scheduled for fall at Colorado State University.

If he can't get in, the 21-year-old said, he'll have to spend an extra semester earning the credits he needs for his minor in biomedical sciences.

His professor is sympathetic. The problem is, the class already has too many live humans and too few dead ones.

For the first time in two decades, the organization that distributes donated cadavers to medical and undergraduate schools in Colorado and Wyoming doesn't have enough to go around.

Colorado's Anatomical Board, which typically receives up to 160 cadavers per year, finds itself with a shortfall of about 20, even after changing its standards to accept heavier corpses.

See the full story at the link, it's a bit long......
cw2.trb.com...


If we can't properly train new doctors we'll all end up with a problem in the years to come, not enough doctors to go around.

I will not do it. Simply for two reason:

Black Market Organs. Don't need to give them what they don't need.

Let's say you get in a terrible car wreck, your sitting there on the operating table, and you have a chance of living, but the doctor see's that your an organ donor, which gives him two choices: Let you die, or continue trying to save you. What if that Doctor was on the black market of donors list as well?

reply to post by anxietydisorder


I know how selfish this must sound... but I will not donate my organs, because there is no tax break for doing so, and furthermore, those donated organs are not free for the people in need. They still have to pay for the organs, and the surgery. That part doesn't make any sense to me. If I am giving away my organs for free, they ought to be given to those in need for free as well. At this point, it seems like you are just giving away free products to an industry that could care less if you lived or died based on the amount of money they can siphon out of you.


If I'm terribly mistaken with this, please let me know and cure me of my ignorance.