|
|
Organ Donation: The Ignored Crisis Max O’Connor was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis at age 7 and a half. For the next two years hopes and prayers went out for a new lung to save the young child’s life. Unfortunately, like so many other cases, a suitable lung could not be found in time, and Max died at the age of 9 during the summer of 2002. Lack of organ donation has become an upsetting statistic in the United States and is progressively becoming worse. Last year over 67,000 people died waiting for organ transplants, while the total number of fatal accidents figured more than 107,000 and suicide reached almost 27,000. Several proposals have been suggested to increase the number of participants for organ donation, including ‘presumed consent’ legislation, a mandate effect, accepting declared brain-dead patients, or using incentives in recognition for organ donation. Presumed consent and the mandate effect are the two most widely accepted proposals in the medical field and I strongly support putting either one into effect so to increase the number of lives that could be saved. Many foreign countries today (not including America) have what is called ‘presumed consent’: the assumption that every person who dies is automatically an organ donor unless otherwise stated. In his essay “We Must Have Presumed Consent” Larry Kramer fervently advocates the idea of ‘Presumed Consent’ for the United States. “[N]ot enough Americans,” Kramer writes, “donate their organs to be used after they die. In many foreign countries, this extreme shortage does not exist because these countries (and they include Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Norway, Singapore, and Spain) have…presumed consent organ collection system” (par.2). In America, you have to sign the back of your driver’s license if you wish to be an organ donor, and even then, most centers still require permission from a family member, which, believe it or not, may not be given. By allowing presumed consent, the gap between the need for organs and organs available would greatly diminish. Presumed consent would automatically label a victim of unintentional misfortune an organ donor rather then having to look for their wallet or contact family members, which can become a lengthy task. Kramer analyzes the impact by stating: “That means that when an accident occurs to a person who has not opted out…his or her organs can be taken immediately…” (par.3). On average, about 80,000 people in the United States are on the waiting list for a new organ; about 20,000 receive their transplants in time. (And that is just those who are ill enough to be put on the list). The American public doesn’t realize that by not claiming themselves as an organ donator’s, their organs in no way will benefit a sick child waiting for a lung transplant or soon-to-be grandparent waiting for a kidney transfer. Presumed consent would shift the responsibility from people willing to donate their organs, to people not willing to donate their organs, a tremendous step towards better contribution of organs.
|
