[Luciferi]

Do you support organ donation? Why or why not?

[Seriously]

Yes. Not like I'm going to need them after I'm dead.

[phej]

	Originally Posted by Seriously To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Yes. Not like I'm going to need them after I'm dead.

Me too, what about the ones where we have spares, like the kidney?

idk if I'm willing to share one of my kidney's while I'm alive.

[Synamon]

	Originally Posted by phej To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Me too, what about the ones where we have spares, like the kidney? idk if I'm willing to share one of my kidney's while I'm alive.

Organ donation is great.

As for donating an organ that I'm still using, it would depend on the situation.

[Seriously]

	Originally Posted by Synamon To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Organ donation is great. As for donating an organ that I'm still using, it would depend on the situation.

Ditto.

I would have to like you a heck of a lot to share my innards with you while I'm still using them.

[Wapiti]

Sure but not while I'm alive. While alive, I'm not giving you a kidney because I have 2. I have 2 for a reason and I use them both. That would be like giving you an eye because I have 2 and I'm not gonna do that. Sure, call me selfish but when I'm dead, you can have both my eyes.

[plotthickens]

I've seen what is necessary to prep and sustain organ donations, and do not support them.

Frankly, there are enough people already without making more... who are miserable, sick, and expensive in both time and treasure.

[XFire35]

I agree with organ donation, however those who have messed their liver/renal system due to alcohol/substance abuse, or lung damage should in no way be entitled to be on the register, also those with a serious criminal record.

[Synchronicity]

Dead, yes. Alive, no. I would only donate an organ while alive if someone very close to me and of a similar or younger age (e.g. my wife, my best friend).

[LordCorbin]

Id prefer to keep all of my parts to myself so long as I live. Otherwise, I will merely echo some of the sentiments expressed above and say that they can have at it after I am dead. No logical reason to let perfectly good organs go to waste.

[Pachystima]

	Originally Posted by plotthickens To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	I've seen what is necessary to prep and sustain organ donations, and do not support them. Frankly, there are enough people already without making more... who are miserable, sick, and expensive in both time and treasure.

My wife is soon to be the recipient of donor lungs; it could easily giver her another 5-10 years of life. Otherwise she will be dead within 18 months. And no, she has never smoked!

I suspect that if you were in her shoes you would not be quite so cavalier and judgmental about things you clearly do not understand. You might even consider a similar procedure yourself should it become necessary.

[Scatterbrane]

	Originally Posted by plotthickens
	Frankly, there are enough people already without making more... who are miserable, sick, and expensive in both time and treasure.

Is there some sort of cost/benefit analysis of the results of organ transplants that suggest they're a net cost in societal benefit?

[Luciferi]

	Originally Posted by XFire35 To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	I agree with organ donation, however those who have messed their liver/renal system due to alcohol/substance abuse, or lung damage should in no way be entitled to be on the register, also those with a serious criminal record.

That's kind of my feeling, as well. And I would probably only donate an organ that I'm still using to a family member and only if I were the best match for them. I would be far less opposed to organ donation in principle if not for:

1) that I donate them (and my family ends up having to pay to keep them alive and usable) while the hospital turns around and essentially sells them at what seems like it must be a huge profit. It's not really a donation if the recipient has to pay for it. And as I understand it, organ transplant is not covered by most insurance.

2) that I don't get a say in who gets my organs. There are certain people that I don't think should be given a "second chance" and if I'm not allowed to decide who gets them, then too bad. This is why we can't have nice things. It's my body and I think I should have the right to say, "nope, not that person; how about that one over there instead?"

So that said, the little box on my driver's license for organ donation remains unchecked.

[plotthickens]

	Originally Posted by Pachystima To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	My wife is soon to be the recipient of donor lungs; it could easily giver her another 5-10 years of life. Otherwise she will be dead within 18 months. And no, she has never smoked! I suspect that if you were in her shoes you would not be quite so cavalier and judgmental about things you clearly do not understand. You might even consider a similar procedure yourself should it become necessary.

I'm sorry my response upset you. This is a touchy subject. I hope your wife's surgery goes well.

	Originally Posted by Scatterbrane To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Is there some sort of cost/benefit analysis of the results of organ transplants that suggest they're a net cost in societal benefit?

I'm not sure about societal benefit. I have spent time in recovery wards (and re-recovery wards) as a candystriper and cannot personally endorse the personal cost.

[Warrior]

I fully support anyone that wants to donate their organs, although I have no intention of doing so myself. Don't think I would want someone else's organs either, although I think each individual can decide that for themselves. I wouldn't hold it against someone either way.

[Mader]

Societal benefit is a very slippery road. How do you monetize a human being.

Yes, I support organ donation, it is on my DL and my family is aware of my wishes.

[Scatterbrane]

	How do you monetize a human being.

It's done all the time. The exchange rates are bizarrely different depending on context, but it's done all the same.

If you want to measure the effects of an organ transplant, you might e.g. try looking at whether the recipients' social groups are more or less miserable than they would otherwise have been.

I'm just going to stay ignorant and be happy that I'll be donating the useful parts of my body upon death, hopefully delivering societal good, until such time as I'm shown to be wrong in this belief. Writing those parts about monetizing people gives me the shivers. *brrrr*.

[Cooper]

When I'm dead, they can have any bloody part of me they want. But remember, they are used....

[Nightsun]

	Originally Posted by Cooper To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	When I'm dead, they can have any bloody part of me they want. But remember, they are used....

I completely agree. As for when I'm living, I think I'll give any non-vital organ for my children and probably also for my sister.

[zibber]

	Originally Posted by Warrior To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Don't think I would want someone else's organs either

Get back to us when you're dying.

[dungeonguy88]

Yeah sure, I support organ donation, mostly for the reason mentioned for, I'm not gonna need them when I'm dead. Besides I'm O-, my organs are a real catch, though family and friends get first dibs^^ Maybe that's selfish but, meh.

[interpolate]

Yes, absolutely.

[slip]

I'm all for other people donating their organs. I also might be inclined to do so if I had any say in where my body parts are going. Unfortunately, the only choice is to 'opt-in' or not, which means my organs may be donated to a useful cause, or my body might be mutilated in the name of 'science.' I don't want freshman medical students examining my brain and eyes, and I'd like for my body to be intact, no matter whether I'm dead or otherwise. I'm aware that the body is useless after death (aside from being a nutritious treat for the maggots), but there's something about imagining my body becoming a subject for science experiments that irks me.

I'm also paranoid (read: irrational fear) that the donor sticker on my DL would keep me from getting those extra one or two CPR pumps which may start my heart again.

[Slarts]

Yes, I won't be needing them when I'm not around here anymore. I'll donate them without conditions, because I like to think that I may have been of help to someone else who needed it. It's a thing called altruism.

I trust the transplantation teams to find the best possible match for an available donor organ, something that is far from easy under the best circumstances. For those patients to whom a matching donor organ is found, it is nothing less than a second chance of life. Who am I to judge whether they have deserved it or not.

Luckily, I live in a civilized country, where organ transplants, should you need one, are part of common medical practice and paid for by the government. Maybe the only condition I have is that nobody should make money out of my generous donation
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[Pachystima]

	Originally Posted by Luciferi To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	1) that I donate them (and my family ends up having to pay to keep them alive and usable) while the hospital turns around and essentially sells them at what seems like it must be a huge profit. It's not really a donation if the recipient has to pay for it. And as I understand it, organ transplant is not covered by most insurance.

Since my wife of 50+ years is soon to be the recipient of donor lungs, I have had quite a bit of exposure to the "transplant community". I feel that I can speak with some authority on the subject. You have been misinformed on several points.

First, hospitals are only reimbursed for their cost of surgical "recovery" and support of donor organs until they are transported to the recipient. They are quite commonly transported hundreds to thousands of miles to where they may be best used.

Second, donor organs are not sold at a profit, at least not by hospitals affiliated with UNOS and most are. Check their website at
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Third, the donors family is never charged for keeping the donor organ alive and viable; these costs are paid by the recipient or his/her insurance company.

Finally, most non-experimental organ transplants are covered by insurance. Medical insurance providers typically use more-or-less the same guidelines regarding established procedures as does Medicare. Medicare routinely covers heart, lung, kidney, pancreas, colon and several other transplant procedures. Medigap insurance usually covers costs not paid by Medicare; though sometimes with a co-pay. Those covered by private insurance may have much greater out-of-pocket co-pay costs however.

The cost of anti-rejection medication can exceed $3000 per month. Medicare part D will cover a large part of this once the "doughnut hole" in coverage is past. Many transplant clinics will assist recipients in finding funding or support for the procedures and necessary medication if the recipient and his/her family lack prescription coverage.

I personally know about 25 organ recipients. Of these, most are either heart or lung recipients. Many of them have become acquainted with the family of the donor and are thankful for the donor and the donor's family's generosity. Most organ recipients have far better quality of life after the surgery and rehabilitation process.

There is an exhaustive and exhausting evaluation procedure required before a person becomes a candidate for a donor organ. Although most of the evaluation is medical, part of it is psychological. Some people do not react well to having part of another person in their body. After the evaluation, the candidate is given a "priority score". This is based on the seriousness of their condition, how rapidly their condition is progressing and how healthy they are except for the disease. When a donor organ becomes available, it is evaluated for tissue type and then allocated to suitable recipients according to priority.

For me, one of the most painful things I have had to deal with in my life has been watching my beloved wife struggle to take each breath and to see a once vital and energetic woman become weak and frail. I look forward to seeing her return to some semblance of herself and will be eternally grateful to whoever was generous enough to let their organs live on.