One question that we often get asked about organ donation is "if I sign up as a donor will doctors be less likely to work to save my life?"  The answer is absolutely NO!  This is an urban myth that prevents a lot of people from signing up to be organ donors.

The reality is that that the medical team treating you is completely separate from the transplant team that would evaluate your organs to see if they are viable.  The treatment team is dedicated to your recovery and governed by the decisions of your health care agent or proxy.

Moreover, in order for a person to become an organ donor, blood and oxygen must flow through the organs until the time of recovery to ensure viability. This requires that in order for a person to be an actual organ donor they must die under circumstances that have resulted in an irreparable neurological injury, usually from massive trauma to the brain such as aneurysm, stroke or automobile accident.

Donation is only considered after all efforts to save the patient’s life have been exhausted, tests are performed to confirm the absence of brain or brain stem activity, and brain death has been declared. 

Another frequent question we get about Organ Donation is:

Aren't I too old to donate organs?

Many clients are joking when they ask but the misconception that their is an age limit for donation leads many who can and would be donors not to take the steps to volunteer. 

While there are diseases such as cancer and AIDS that prevent donation, there is no age limit on donors.  As doctors we have worked with have explained, if you have a critical organ failing that is difficult to match, the healthy organ of an 80 year old that is a decent match is going to be much better than what you have.  Matches at that age and above are not uncommon and save lives.  So don't write off your organs yet!

If you have more questions about organ donation, or are interesting in making your wishes regarding donation known and included in your disability and estate plan, contact us for a free 1/2 hour consultation.  We can be reached at (206) 459-1908 or info@phinneyestatelaw.com.

One issue that we encourage all clients to address is their Advanced Health Care Directive is whether or not they are willing to be an organ or tissue donor.   As a result we get a lot of questions and wanted to try to answer some of the most common here including:

How Needed is Organ Donation?

As of July 2012 there are currently 114,712 Patients Waiting for life saving organs.  Of those, 64,292 are Multicultural Patients who can be especially difficult to match and 1,737 are Pediatric Patients.  Each day, 13 of them will die because the organs they need have not been donated. Every 16 minutes, a new name will be added to that waiting list.

The good news is that 28,535 Organ Transplants Performed in 2011 from 14,144 Organ Donors.  In addition, more than 46,000 corneas were transplanted in 2011.

Long wait lists result from low rates of opt in to the donation process, the special circumstances required to allow organ harvesting, and the difficulting in finding safe matches for some patients. 

If you have more questions about organ donation, or are interesting in making your wishes regarding donation known and included in your disability and estate plan, contact us for a free 1/2 hour consultation.  We can be reached at (206) 459-1908 or info@phinneyestatelaw.com.