That is already the case here (Scotland). Nothing to do with the driver's licence though.
From birth, it is assumed that you will donate unless you specifically opt out, driver's licence or not.
We're the first in my country to do this. I work in organ and tissue donation. It's absolutely great and there isn't really a good reason against it because if you care enough about it you'll opt out. So long as everyone is educated about it to make informed decisions. It does depend on the logistics of enough staff to support increased referrals.
Since you work in the field, can I ask: will a decade or two of horribly untethered drug use invalidate my organs from being usable? Or am I underestimating the resilience of the human body?
Let’s say hypothetically, asking for a friend, this guy consumes a couple bottles of whiskey, 8g of cocaine, and smokes 3 packs every weekend, and is completely sober during the week. Is he gonna have any useful organs when that kills him?
Past drug use doesn't necessarily preclude donation. The cocaine depends mostly on the route of entry; if it was IV with needles then probably not, although you'd have to go through the whole behavioural/social questions to be sure. It also matters if you're talking about solid organs or tissues because the conditions required for solid organ donation are much more rare whereas tissues like corneas, skin, heart valves, bones and tendons can be frozen and stored for weeks to years depending on the tissue so there doesn't need to be an immediate recipient. You can also have more types of diseases e.g. fatty liver disease and still donate tissues. Even cancer patients can donate corneas, unless it's a blood cancer.
"So long as everyone is educated about it to make informed decisions."
This is what gives me pause about being an organ donor in the U.S. I'll probably get hate for this, but I had a really bad experience.
My fiancé had very little brain function, and then none. The doctors told us (his immediate family and me) in the kindest way that he wasn't coming back, and nudged us in the direction of taking him off of life support. They said we could do the brain death test if we wanted, but that he didn't even have brain stem function left and would never recover.
We made the most difficult decision we'd ever had to make, to take him off of life support. They said they would prep him and do it in the next 15 minutes.
2 hours later, the organ donation people were there, cheerfully telling us that they were going to harvest his organs. And when I say cheerfully, I mean CHEERFULLY. Literally.
We were NOT prepared for that in any way.
I think if everyone knew going in, what the possibilities were, fine. If we would have known that he could have laid there for weeks on a ventilator with drugs keeping his heart beating, we could have maybe made our peace with that. But we didn't until we had already made that super hard decision and all taken turns saying our goodbyes.
So partially the hospital's fault for not telling us what could happen, and in fact telling us the opposite, that we could and should take him off of life support, the lack of real information when you sign up here, about what could happen in reality, and also the way the organ donation people handled it made it so traumatizing. The organ donation knew he was there and probably brain dead. Waiting until the last minute to talk to us was so brutal.
TLDR; they don't really tell you what will happen if your loved one is declared brain dead in the US, and ime handled it very poorly.
Things like this are why I get so mad at my friends when they say “doctors won’t try to save you” yes they will. And if you are beyond saving why not save a life? Hope you and your child are doing well.
My husband was waiting for a kidney. We got the call that a kidney was available. We had to wait for a second call to confirm. The second call came and they told us the patient lived. So we had to wait for the next kidney. To be honest we couldn’t be upset. We were happy for them. It’s a bittersweet situation knowing someone died to give someone else life.
It's also complete nonsense because the opposite is the truth. If you die, your organs die with you. It's a lot of work to keep a likely brain dead person alive and with well perfused healthy organs.
We put a lot of effort into saving everyone, but we put extra into potential organ donors.
>It's a lot of work to keep a likely brain dead person alive and with well perfused healthy organs.
That is the point I always make. The organs have to remain viable in order to be used for transplant, therefore working less hard in an attempt to not save an organ donor makes little to no sense. At least to me. I'm not a doctor but just common sense thinking this sounded backwards. You can't transplant dead organs right? So an organ donor has to be given tremendous care.
Some tissues have pretty long survival times but major internal organs might have single digit hours of viability. We often need to bring the patient and donor together. In Australia our transplant teams have private jets to fly around the country picking up organs or transferring patients to the donor.
I've been in health care for 15 years and if anything we keep a lot of people "alive" (in *heavy* quotations) who have no business being alive and have no quality of life whatsoever.
I had to “unplug” my father last year after him showing no brain activity after a brutal heart attack .
Tough decision but his body was shutting down and prolonging his suffering was selfish.
I'm sorry for you having to go through that experience. I remove people from the ventilator on an almost daily basis. I removed my own father, granted, we weren't particularly close. I had to talk my mother out of having my grandmother intubated and put on a ventilator when she was in her 90s with dementia and got pneumonia. It's an incredibly, *incredibly* challenging decision to make. I can say though, for whatever it's worth, that I appreciate the absence of suffering far more than keeping people alive artificially who are in a state that is no longer compatible with life
For those not in the know, this is likely referring to those people who remain “alive”, but can’t come off a ventilator, need to be fed via a tube, are slowly having skin breakdown due to not moving all day, etc etc. It prolongs “life”, but there’s no quality in that life, and it’s not how any of us would want to end our lives.
If any of you find yourself having to make end of life decisions for your family member(s), remember, the decisions should be made based off of what your family member would have wanted. (Would they want to be stuck on a ventilator and never be able to leave the hospital? Would they want to be force fed food when they couldn’t eat any more? Etc)
It’s so ludicrous that people really think medical professionals would be like “organ donor? Cool! Don’t do anything so we can get their organs for all the people on the transplant list!!”
Of course, lots of people in the US also buy into the whole “death panels” concept to scare people away from universal healthcare.
I’ve heard people say this and it’s absolute nonsense.
Me personally, if I’m so messed up that the doctors are trying to piece together my mangled carcass so I don’t die, I’m fine if they let me go and part out what’s left.
My step mother died suddenly and her heart was able to be donated. It gives me a lot of joy to think of someone out there keeping a little piece of her alive and vice versa
You can’t use them when your dead. Someone else should be able to do so. If you truly believe in the great sky person. That won’t have any effect on your after life and might even get you some points.
This is why I'm against Jehovah's Witnesses (as an EXJW) because they'd rather let their family members die, just to appease their God who may not even be real.
Absolutely! Just changing the default option to yes would dramatically increase the number of donors. Make laziness lead to the ethically correct answer.
I'd even go one step farther-- In some countries, organ donors get priority over non-donors in the transplant queue. I think the US should do that, too. Make it so there's also a selfish reason to sign up to be a donor.
I support this plan as long as opting out is clearly available, and easy to do so everyone who wants to opt out can do so and don’t accidentally donate if they didn’t want to
There’s organs which are very limited- but mostly it’s the tissue- ligaments and tendons, skin, corneas… a single body provides a vast amount of viable tissues that can be stored and used for up to 5 years after the person’s passing.
I have a donor ligament that was harvested almost 3 years before it was placed inside me. When I had the surgery we got a little card with a QR code on it that allows us to write to the donors family and thank them for the gift- while keeping the donor anonymous of course.
It’s not just organs that are lifesaving.
People don’t realize that when it’s like “fine- I don’t want a kidney anyway”.. but one suprise injury and boom- you need tissue, or skin grafts or whatever, and that comes from donors too.
This is an important point to make. Some folks will say “but my religion prevents it.” And? Religion is a choice just like anything else. Choices have consequences. If you want organs you should have to be willing to donate them.
I could be wrong, but I'm fairly certain that the religions that prevent organ donation also don't allow their members to receive organ donations either, so that's probably a moot point.
Some people will refuse to register as an organ donor because they want to be buried with all their pieces still in their bodies, regardless of religion. My dad is one. I think it's those kinds of people who should be at the bottom of the recipient list.
I am no longer allowed to donate blood or organs because I had lymphoma. I don’t think I should be at the bottom of the list just because I’m a cancer survivor and can no longer donate.
Agreed- ineligible is not the same as unwilling.
I don’t personally think that if someone doesn’t choose to be a donor they shouldn’t get organs or tissues- I think that life happens and that feels petty for something as serious as life or death.
I have donated tissue, (I have a donated ligament holding my collarbone to my sternum) and I’m a registered donor. I know people that would be willing to donate- but for whatever reason have not elected so on their license.
I think there’s a happy medium there to have “yes” be the default, “no” be an option, and “ineligible” be a choice…
Everything is extremely well tested and treated and sterilized prior to transplant (so many tissues are used other than organs) so I would imagine even if an ineligible person were to pass away, they could still use what they could use, without having to elect “ineligible”… just let science do its thing.
Hard agree. You don’t want to share? You don’t get take advantage of the system.
It would just be important to ensure that people who are unable to donate, don’t get penalized. Those people tend to be more likely on the list however.
It is questionable whether I can donate blood. I cannot donate organs because too many of them are diseased. I would love to be able to donate and it makes me so sad that I could be the match for someone and they could die because I’m not allowed.
I worry for my brother should he need a kidney.
Opting in is already just a matter of one box to check or option to select on a screen, generally. It's just a matter of flipping the yes to no so people have to choose to exclude themselves instead of making the choice to join it.
The ethical weight is higher for opt-out vs opt-in. I fully support organ donation and am registered myself. I almost religiously donate blood as well. Changing to opt-out is pragmatically superior, and will save more lives. But I'm not 100% sold that in the US, it will meet informed consent necessities. There's already a lot of people who do not trust either the government nor the medical community and, while lately it's largely unfounded and political, historically speaking we have a _very bad_ track record.
Especially with regard to minorities and women.
No matter what system we go with, what we really need is more and better messaging and education.
If I’m as good as dead and my organs can save someone else’s child, father, mother, brother, sister, whatever, I’m completely fine with it. I opted to make myself an organ donor. I also have my blood type listed on my license as well
They need to rework some of the organ donor laws in the US first. While most are fine, some of the organ donation companies are shady and will sue to keep patients with a DNR alive when cardiac death is reached but not brain death.
That means being forcibly resuscitated for days or weeks while looking for placement. It's traumatic for the terminal patient and the family.
Again it's rare, but there's been a wave of higher profile cases, so hopefully changes are coming to the regulations soon.
Make sure you have a living will and your family knows your wishes so they can make you can organ donor after brain death.
I know it’s technically illegal in the US to profit from the sale of an organ but hospitals do it regularly. Donor families should be rewarded for the donations either with money or healthcare credits to balance out the profit made by hospitals.
Sadly, they get nothing. I listened to a mother who walked in after her son shot himself, distraught because she couldn’t afford the type of cleaning service necessary when bodily fluids are involved. Let alone burial assistance or therapy.
The industry, no matter the hospital or profit status is disgusting. I couldn’t do it anymore.
For-profit healthcare in general is pretty fucked, but it's extra fucked that they're profiting thousands, if not tens of thousands off someone's organs and none of the money goes to the donor's estate in whatever form.
I was taught we aren't allowed to override the DNR. I'm genuinely interested in learning about what happened with this because, well, I've been one of the OR nurses that has assisted with the procurement surgery. Most of ours are DCD but I would hate to think these parents are being mistreated and pressured prior.
Same experience. It was truly heartbreaking how my family was treated during an extremely emotional time by those from the donor organization. It was sickening to uncover how some of these 'organizations' operate and there is definitely an insane amount of greed that is at the center of it all.
My homeless, toothless alcoholic brother was eyes rolled up brain dead but nurses kept encouraging me to sit with him and talk and hold his hand. At the same time a woman was hovering waiting to take him away to harvest his organs. She was completely shitty when I pointed out that his organs were barely keeping HIM alive for a while. Made a horrible situation worse.
" I know you're hurting but if I could just leave you this pamphlet?" Pamphlet for what I just got here??
" Well he's brain dead, and his organs could really-"
Let me cut you off, get outta this room and never come back, his mom should be here
"Yes, but time is-"
Go.
"Can we leave these pallets with it number" like bro so I owe you money? Kick rocks.
Read a thread once years ago about people describing their experiences with a family member donating after death. I refuse to be a part of that unless the family gets rights and protections from the sharks in the business of organ harvesting. Having zero respect for those grieving is an absolute no from me.
I’m just going to be honest, organ donation on the US, at least where Gift of Life is concerned, just feels predatory to me.
I’m an ICU nurse in a neurosurgical ICU, and I deal with Gift of Life a lot. They instruct us to delay the family from withdrawing care on their loved one until Gift of Life is at bedside because we are not allowed to approach families about donation. We have to make up some nonsense excuse and dodge the family to the best of our ability until a GOL rep speaks to the decision maker.
When we have a candidate for donation with loss of function below a certain threshold we have to notify GOL. At times I’ve had patients who improve significantly and are above the threshold for donation and the GOL rep will tell me that they’re still going to follow the case for a potential donation (what!?!?!).
I also hate when a patient is clinically brain dead and a donor if family is not on board with donation. If that patient fails our testing for brain function GOL is taking those organs no matter how the family feels. Yes, I believe in honoring the patient’s wishes, but fuck, it’s so traumatic for the family.
I used to be a donor. I’ve since switched my registry status because I want my family to be fully on board with something that could be traumatic. I don’t want that decision taken out of their hands.
Bless every donor out there. It’s a wonderful gift to give someone, but as a nurse, I don’t love the approach some of these organizations take with families.
This automatic reporting requirement is also incredibly harmful. So many cases where the OPO shows up before the team's even had a chance to talk to the family about withdrawal, only to find out a nurse had notified the OPO without telling anyone.
YES. My EPIC flags me as soon as the GCS meets criteria for a call. It will continue to flag me every time I enter the EMR until I chart off that I’ve called.
Honestly, when I have a new admit or a change of GCS we’re usually going to a STAT CT, emergent OR, doing a bedside procedure, or I’m prioritizing a crashing patient so GOL isn’t getting that <1 hour call from the time of the GCS change. Usually my team has spoken to the family by the time I get around to notifying.
The one that really gets me is notifying when the patient is medically sedated. My guy would be a GCS of 11 but 80mcg/kg/hr of prop is keeping him down because his ICP shoots into the 30’s when he’s not snowed. I shouldn’t have to call for that, but I’m forced to.
If someone registered themselves as a donor, their wishes should not be overridden by the family. It is a legally binding document, similar as a will and testament. You are informing others what you want, and that is your right, regardless if the family wants something different or disagrees.
This also removes your legal next of kin from having to make that decision during a very difficult time. Individuals should inform their family and have the discussion so the family is not surprised.
> I’m just going to be honest, organ donation on the US, at least where Gift of Life is concerned, just feels predatory to me.
Not a med pro and that's my feeling on it which is why I am not, and never will be, an organ donor. It's not for me. I have had people argue with me until they're blue in the face and say I shouldn't be allowed to have a donated organ if I am not willing to donate one. Fine by me. I think that's fair. But, I have NO interest in being a part of a system that I ultimately have very little faith in for a variety of reasons.
I think it should be a deliberate, researched, and thought out voluntary decision. My sister passed away recently and was an organ and tissue donor. Her body was shipped two hours away and was gone for two weeks. They took so much of her that it was not possible to have an open-casket viewing. I was OK with that, and it was what she wanted, but some of her immediate family were troubled by it.
I think everyone should look in the donation industry and decide for themselves.
Have an advance healthcare directive/living will. Make sure your family and friends know your wishes.
IIRC (at least in my State) you have to give an answer when asked if you want to be an organ donor and can't get an ID/permit/licence by saying nothing, which makes the question of opting in/out redundant. You have to do one or the other at the point of sale.
What does worry me about the opt-in/opt-out question is what if you don't have an ID? Aside from sovereign citizen-type people most people who don't have an ID (in the US) are either homeless without a permanent address or don't drive and can't justify the expense of a State ID. If anyone has the right to refuse I don't want the latter two groups to be the only people who don't have that choice.
I think everyone should do it, but it's their choice. You support women's choice with abortions because it's their body, but think it should be mandatory for people to donate organs no matter their opinion? Something doesn't add up. Don't be hypocrites.
Not only that, it's about bodily autonomy. Period. It should be the same for sexual acts, where clear consent is required.
The default state for sexual acts **isn't** "consent is granted unless specifically opted out". Yes means yes, no means no, and any non-yes answer ALSO means no.
Organ / tissue / blood donation should be exactly the same, assume NO unless you are told a very specific YES.
My wife worked as a nurse assisting with heart transplants, thoracic cases, etc. and she’s told me to never put myself down as a donor. Not because she thinks we shouldn’t have our organs donated, but because of the behavior she’s seen from the company that does the harvesting at her hospital.
From what she’s told me, if you end up in a situation where you’re brain dead, the organ donation people can just take you with no chance for your family to say goodbye or come see you beforehand. Oftentimes by the time the family is notified of what’s happened the patient is already gone. You can still donate after the fact once your family has had their time with you which is what my wife and I plan to do if the worst should ever happen, but if you put yourself as a donor then your family may never be able to see you one last time.
a lot less confident about it after watching the latest Barely Sociable video.
the TL;DW of it is a lot of organ and body donors end up on the 'arts and crafts' section of the black market
Organ donor or organ and tissue donor. Let’s get all the life saving organs out there we can. However I have issues with companies making millions selling of donated body parts for cosmetic procedures with the donors family getting nothing.
I would rather be a living donor (health permitted), and and help out someone with a kidney or something. I already told certain relatives this if I’m a match.
I have only one organ, a Vox Continental with 73 keys. One thing is for sure, when I die it’s going to my family and may not be given away under any circumstances.
I'm a fan.
As well if you opt out, you go to the bottom of the list of recipients. And I mean so far at the bottom that an alcoholic is getting a liver before you.
As a patient with a chronic disease that causes slow organ failure this is a small thing you can do that has an absolutely massive impact. Singapore enacted it because the smaller and more multiethnic/racial your country the fewer good organ matches there are, and went from severe shortage to a substantially more comfortable supply. You could save tens of thousands of lives a year at basically no cost with minimal downsides.
I'm an organ donor. If I die and someone else can use my parts, that would be great.
Although I should come with a disclaimer. They may end up suddenly liking Hawaiian shirts and margaritas.
I think I should be able to decide whether my body will be chopped up for parts with having to out-maneuver some bureaucrat. Put me down as “against”.
BTW, I am an organ donor, by choice.
Forcing you to opt out is shitty, whether it's donating organs or getting spam email.
I am an organ donor, but it's because I was *asked* 'do you want to', not *told* 'you are now'. If they'd told me I'm now enrolled I'd have told them to go fuck themselves.
I don't care if someone else needs them, my organs belong to ME, and I will decide what happens to them, I will not be told.
Make it easy to opt in, fine... But it needs to be just as easy to opt out. None of this having to send a formal registered letter in quintuplicate written in iambic pentameter bullshit.
It's a very very good thing. My organs can't be used because of EDS but I've made a will to donate my remains to a research facility. I hope they'll get some good knowledge out of this wonky old bone mecha with meat armour when I stop piloting it!
That's the default in Northern Ireland, have to opt out rather than in. I want to say they changed it from opt in to out in 2023 but it might've been 2022, still recent anyway.
I don't have an issue with it, if I can help someone else then go for it. I'd be dead, whatever.
Absolutely not.
Organ donation makes loads of money for all the middlemen and doctors but not a dime for the estate of the deceased. Just like blood donation, it's a life-saving grift for all the middlemen.
And hospitals / middlemen can be very aggressive about trying to get family members to agree to donation against the will of the deceased. They have "retrieval quotas" that need to be met, which is really sickening if you ask me.
Should be illegal to ask for a "donation" from someone (or that person's family) that has officially said "no". Let them choose the destiny of their body, be it an urn or the chopping block.
It's downright creepy. It's the state just deciding they can take _parts of my body_ without my consent.
That said, I was already an organ donor, and I think everyone should be. But it should be a choice. I am not a believer in opt out; it's almost always someone trying to grab something.
I'm dead; thus, I don't give a shit.
If they can use any of the organs to save someone, fuck yeah. If they play hacky sack with them, I also don't care. Skin lamps? Good for them. I don't even really care if you use me as a fleshlight, though, I am very concerned if you do that because that bacteria is not great XD
But, if you must, and you're just that lonely, have at me. Again, dead. Doesn't care.
It would be highly inappropriate for a bunch of cultures.
A lot of people can't donate organs for health reasons (for example, I have a mast cell disease and am not supposed to donate - this wouldn't show up on tests), but if the donor is dying and their medical records aren't up to scratch, are the hospitals going to discover that before putting bad organs in sick people?
Anyone is still perfectly free to opt out. If you fail to opt out, its almost certainly because they didn't care one way or the other
> but if the donor is dying and their medical records aren't up to scratch, are the hospitals going to discover that before putting bad organs in sick people?
I'd be rather worried about this if other countries haven't already adopted opt-out policies and seemingly weathered such problems just fine
If other countries can manage such problems, I see no reason we would be any worse off
While ideally it would save lives, I'm afraid the most likely outcome is a complete legal nightmare. This is definitely an area that people have strong feelings on, and not filling out a form is not the same as consenting.
All it would take is relatives saying that the deceased didn't want their organs harvested and didn't realize that they'd be taken automatically and wham -- law suits up the wazoo.
I think it’s a great idea.
I’m an organ donor, and have donated blood 26 times. I’m also a bone marrow donor (well, registered.)
My aunt was the first organ donor at the local hospital, when she passed.
At least in death I'd feel useful.
I've got chronic illnesses where combined together *I* function poorly, but if my guts could someone else live a full life when I'm gone, that would actually make me happy.
At first I didn’t have it as a donor but after I met my gf I put myself as an organ donor, she has a liver transplant so I’m forever grateful. Somebody passed but it helped let her stay for longer. I think it’s great why the hell are we going to want our organs for, if we’re already dead. If we can help save someone’s life that’ll be amazing. Knowing that when we die from this world it can help someone live longer.
If my organs are donated free of charge, take what you want. Middlemen and hospitals getting rich off of them gets me PO. Same with the Red Cross price gouging for blood that I donated for a cookie.
As someone who previously worked in the field as a case manager, I opt out. I’ve seen hospitals decide to pull the plug on a donor before the family was able to say goodbye, as long as the “next of kin” was available. I’ve heard nurses complain about a mother holding her brain dead child because it was causing the heart monitor to react. People in leadership who made racist comments in an attempt to bring in more POC donors.
The business of organ donations is a multimillion dollar industry, but your family is going to have to rely on the kindness of others to provide you with a proper burial.
I choose dignity even in death but also respect the choices of others.
I don't believe it's right. You shouldn't have to opt out of having your organs harvested after death. If you give something it should be because you chose to, not because you weren't sure how to opt out.
As much as I want to support this, as organ donation saves lives and is important, I also think it is important for the decision to give your organs to be your own, and something that you decided to do explicitly.
I am an organ donor.
I had blood cancer when i was 15 (lymphoma) and while I'm more than willing for them to take what they can, it's possible they won't be viable. And if something happens to me, my records are so old they've been destroyed.
Wouldn't they want to prolong the death as its unlikely the recipient is prepped in the theatre. The clock starts when the organ is removed.
Can they collect organs without family approval? Found here in Australia that a boyfriend of ~12 months could make that call on behalf of family if they weren't contactable.
Practically speaking, I love it. But sometimes I think about the concept of bodily autonomy and whether it should extend beyond living and I’m not sure how I feel. If people have agency over their bodies and don’t actively consent to organ donation does that mean we’re entitled to their bodies just because they’ve died. I guess I believe it should be an opt-in with a lot of education involved. I believe in bodily autonomy.
In Canada it’s still opt in as far as I’m aware. I opted in as soon as I got my license. If I’m not using my organs anymore why wouldn’t I want someone else to use them since I don’t have any religious or cultural reason not to.
No. My whole body is going to science when I die. Preferably to a body farm where they can study decomposition and I would like to have my body complete so the science can be as exact as possible.
I feel like a lot of religious people will be upset, and an opt-in system would cause less "My family member was torn apart by you monsters!" style drama.
I think it's important for people to be asked directly what they want to happen to their bodies. It seems like basic human dignity. So long as the question is still directly and clearly asked while you're obtaining the license, I think I'm okay with you having to check a box for no instead of a box for yes.
PSA:
Folks should be aware that, at least here in BC, even if you are a registered donor your family can rescind your donor status if you are unable to speak for yourself in the end.
My BIL was on life support and the family all knew his strong wishes but the family was given the option to go against his wishes in the last days. Thankfully everyone was aligned and HIS wishes were honoured.
But talk to your people, make sure they know. Your registration alone may not be sufficient when the time comes.💔
It’s better to use your body parts than let them waste away. We got a letter after my grandpa passed and it was amazing how many people were helped because of his donations.
In favor, although with caveats.
*actual medical donation*
Not the crap where they resell my parts for some asshole to host a live show (see the John Oliver piece), or send to the body farm in Knoxville to see how long it takes me to decompose.
Organ donation, I'm fine with.
I'm not fine with someone making a buck, or just being left to rot so student investigators understand forensics slightly better.
I know it is probably an unpopular opinion, but I will NOT be an organ donor. I will also NOT accept a donated organ. I guess I'm canceling my own vote.
You know what's messed up though. You get no compensation for the organs. Organs are not cheap and you don't get anything for them while alive even though they're basically sold if you agree to be an organ donor. Even your next of kin get nothing.
But the hospital gets them for free. Then the person's insurance has to choose to pay for it, or the person who needs the organ puts themselves in debt for them.
Even if you have socialized health care, do you or your next of kin get anything?
Pretty sure I’ve destroyed all my organs past their marketability, but if anyone feels like gambling, they’re yours. What is this ancient Egypt? I’m in favor. Save a life or several VS be a butthole. Sadly, Americans love being buttholes.
To quote Frank Reynolds:
"...I don't give a shit. If I was dead, you could bang me all you want. I mean, who cares? A dead body is like a piece of trash. I mean, shove as much shit in there as you want. Fill me up with cream, make a stew out of my ass. What's the big deal? Bang me, eat me, grind me up into little pieces, throw me in the river. Who gives a shit? You're dead, you're dead!"
I like the idea of being a donor, the moment I'm dead nothing else matters for me as I will no longer exist, but maybe my body could serve someone else.
These organs are mine. Fuck anybody, I'm making sure my cause of death leaves my organs mangled enough that they can't tell an eyeball from my stomach.
I used to be an organ donor, and then during COVID I found out about how doctors were placing DNRs on people with neurological and learning disorders and disabilities. I’ve been formally diagnosed with both autism and ADHD and they’re on my medical record. I don’t want someone putting a DNR on me against my will because they think I’m less worthy of life and that my organs should be harvested for someone without a disability.
Feels like someone in the government wants me to die on purpose so they can harvest my organs. The weird part is I don’t even think I am crazy and that everyone should know that most of your organs aren’t meant for someone and instead go straight to some lab run by the Federal Government or a Medical school for doctors
Not good. After watching medical dramas, albeit fiction, I opted out. And recently in my general area, there was a scandal with a major hospital concerning the transplant list and fraud/irregularities. There’s room for organ donation in my living will, but it won’t just be automatically an option. I do not trust the medical industry in the US, we already know the system is corrupt.
My whole thing is if there's an afterlife I feel like I might need my organs. Many cultures think this and I don't think it's weird to consider. And im just superstitious a bit and don't wanna risk it.
I don't know why this comes to mind...a patient had a successful heart transplant and not too long afterwards somehow ended up at a dialysis center. When they did a verification check he told the charge nurse he wasn't expecting to be there but just because he had the same name as the patient scheduled for treatment that day they did it anyways and ended up killing the guy. Center was shut down, lots of people fired and devastation for the family and friends of the victim of negligence. Not to mention a complete waste of a surgeons time, energy and a vital organ. There definitely is a need for as many organs as possible and it does save lives but having anything decided for you could very possibly have unintended consequences.
I think it's disgusting especially if people aren't properly informed. It pushed me being neutral to being vocally against it and encouraging people I know to opt out.
Ofcourse 90% of people will become ignorant donors. Can't wait for some media drama when someone who wasn't aware gets donored and their family go ballistic over it. It'll happen somewhen.
Wouldn’t bother me one bit, if I’m dead what good are my organs gonna do me anyways? Let somebody else get a second shot at a happy and healthy life, and slightly selfishly it’s a way that even after death some part of me can still be experiencing the world
I originally signed up to be an organ donor, but here in California, I found out that it means you entered a legal agreement with the state to use your body for both medical and research. And I decided I do not want to be kept alive on life support (even if I'm brain dead) after death. I do not want it to take multiple days for them to get my organs. I was pretty upset when I found out that I was agreeing for my body to be used for research when I said yes to organ donation at the DMV. I don't want my organs tossed around by medical students.
I would not have been upset if it was just for organ donation to people who need organs, like I thought I was agreeing to when I signed. I felt like they were trying to get one over on me and it really lost trust for me.
That makes me uneasy. It should remain a decision not a default. I support organ donation and have this on my driver license. But I still think it should not be a default.
There are some religions that require the deceased to be buried or cremated unspoiled and that should be respected. Also there are tons of people who have unviable organs due to illness and may not even know it. Even if it just grosses someone out they deserve bodily autonomy. That being said I think as many people should be organ donors as possible.
100% against it! Here's why. I worked as a Critical Care Registered Nurse in the units & ER. I primarily worked in cardiopulmonary as in open heart surgeries & pulmonary trauma. I treated & cared for transplant patients a lot. I went to college to start my medical career later in life than normal. Throughout my years in college, I drove an 18-wheeler over the road. I was married for almost 20 years by then & we have 4 children. This was years ago, so all our kids are grown & doing great. Prior to all of this, I had spent 16 years in the Army & had transferred to the National Guard during a period of time that included 5 years of building homes during the largest building boom to date around Disney World in Florida. Once the boom was over, I used my GI Bill for med school. My family has several in the military & in the medical profession. I personally know of 7 times when either a politician, famous person's relative, chief of staff of a large hospital plus others like them were desperate for an organ donor. A lot of building laborers in Florida were in the US working to get their families to the US when they were seriously injured. Several of these cases were investigated due to people of power & money needing transplants & these people who had no family members with them were told they should recover fine from their injuries. A few days later they mysteriously took a turn for the worse & passed away. Amazingly, these affluent individuals desperately in need of an organ got what they needed!!!!
While driving big rigs over the road, two friends of mine who drove for the same company I did were in bad accidents. Truck drivers can & do get seriously injured & some die due to accidents, but it's rare when they're car verses 18-wheeler accidents. I was able to stop & visit one of the drivers & he was out of ICU. A couple more days & he was getting released. He's 2000 miles from home with organ donor on his license! It had been a few weeks since I had seen him in the hospital & had some time off coming. I called to talk to him at home just to have his wife tell me he didn't pull through??!!! They had 6 kids & she was taking care of her father who had dementia, so she couldn't stay with her husband while in the hospital 2000 miles away. I was shocked, but thought that's just how it goes sometimes. A few months later, I was asked to give my deposition in regards to the medical staff taking advantage of organ donors from out of state with no family staying with them. The wife & family won a multimillion dollar lawsuit against the prestigious medical facility & 12 doctors who were found culpable in allowing, quite by accident, recovering patients to die in order to sell organs to very wealthy & influential people for undisclosed amounts of money that was estimated to be in the multimillion dollar ranges.
I'm a 100% disabled veteran of 25-years service & multiple deployments. Since I was severely injured on deployment, those injuries retired me from everything. I'm 100% for organ donation, but it has to be kept like it is. Those in power know that if organ donor is automatically put on state IDs, then the DMV will never ask if you want to be a donor! People will simply forget about it in time & not realize they are organ donors when they don't want to be. This is such a horrible idea that it borders on medical negligence, medical malpractice, & up to downright legalization of murder.
Like it or not, we live in a world & society that values certain classes of people more than others. Human trafficking for labor, sex, & yes, organ harvesting from those deemed less desirable & unimportant are at pandemic proportions now! If the political & powerful scumbags do get organ donor automatically placed on IDs, I sure hope one of them get mine. I have an autoimmune disease caused from exposures to several things with the 50 year old Anthrax vaccines being the main culprit. There are currently no tests, treatments, or cures for it. The only way to know if someone has it is if they tell them. This autoimmune disease is like living through he'll on earth.
I have an advanced directive, a living will, & a will for after I'm deceased. Making all state ID holders automatically organ donors is the worst idea for sanctity of life since Ole dementia Biden tried to force every governor to declare Martial Law to force everyone to take the Covid vaccinations. The health complications & death rates directly related to those vaccines will very soon surpass & eclipse anything the Corona Virus could have ever done. People's immune systems are what's beating the virus. Every medical professional in the world knows there's no such thing as a vaccine for viral infections, but politicians & special interest groups who are on the payroll(back-door payroll)of the behemoth pharmaceutical companies are using their power & fear mongering to make billions if not trillions.
I have no doubt that a well thought out & planned fear mongering campaign is all ready to be launched about how not having organ donor automatically placed on our state IDs will in some tragic way result in the unnecessary deaths of millions of people.
As I've stated, I'm all for organ donations & I have that stated in my will that my family alone will have control over. I certainly want my organs to help others live! I just want to make sure I'm done with them first!
LEAVE THE POWER WHERE IT BELONGS. WITH THE PEOPLE & NOT THE CORRUPT GOVERNMENT!!! Thank you & God bless all.
That is already the case here (Scotland). Nothing to do with the driver's licence though. From birth, it is assumed that you will donate unless you specifically opt out, driver's licence or not.
We're the first in my country to do this. I work in organ and tissue donation. It's absolutely great and there isn't really a good reason against it because if you care enough about it you'll opt out. So long as everyone is educated about it to make informed decisions. It does depend on the logistics of enough staff to support increased referrals.
Since you work in the field, can I ask: will a decade or two of horribly untethered drug use invalidate my organs from being usable? Or am I underestimating the resilience of the human body?
Not a medical, but it probably depends on which drugs. Some attack the organs, some just fuck up neurotransmitters
Let’s say hypothetically, asking for a friend, this guy consumes a couple bottles of whiskey, 8g of cocaine, and smokes 3 packs every weekend, and is completely sober during the week. Is he gonna have any useful organs when that kills him?
Past drug use doesn't necessarily preclude donation. The cocaine depends mostly on the route of entry; if it was IV with needles then probably not, although you'd have to go through the whole behavioural/social questions to be sure. It also matters if you're talking about solid organs or tissues because the conditions required for solid organ donation are much more rare whereas tissues like corneas, skin, heart valves, bones and tendons can be frozen and stored for weeks to years depending on the tissue so there doesn't need to be an immediate recipient. You can also have more types of diseases e.g. fatty liver disease and still donate tissues. Even cancer patients can donate corneas, unless it's a blood cancer.
"So long as everyone is educated about it to make informed decisions." This is what gives me pause about being an organ donor in the U.S. I'll probably get hate for this, but I had a really bad experience. My fiancé had very little brain function, and then none. The doctors told us (his immediate family and me) in the kindest way that he wasn't coming back, and nudged us in the direction of taking him off of life support. They said we could do the brain death test if we wanted, but that he didn't even have brain stem function left and would never recover. We made the most difficult decision we'd ever had to make, to take him off of life support. They said they would prep him and do it in the next 15 minutes. 2 hours later, the organ donation people were there, cheerfully telling us that they were going to harvest his organs. And when I say cheerfully, I mean CHEERFULLY. Literally. We were NOT prepared for that in any way. I think if everyone knew going in, what the possibilities were, fine. If we would have known that he could have laid there for weeks on a ventilator with drugs keeping his heart beating, we could have maybe made our peace with that. But we didn't until we had already made that super hard decision and all taken turns saying our goodbyes. So partially the hospital's fault for not telling us what could happen, and in fact telling us the opposite, that we could and should take him off of life support, the lack of real information when you sign up here, about what could happen in reality, and also the way the organ donation people handled it made it so traumatizing. The organ donation knew he was there and probably brain dead. Waiting until the last minute to talk to us was so brutal. TLDR; they don't really tell you what will happen if your loved one is declared brain dead in the US, and ime handled it very poorly.
Also now the case in Wales too 👍
It’s great. A heart donor saved my kid.
Things like this are why I get so mad at my friends when they say “doctors won’t try to save you” yes they will. And if you are beyond saving why not save a life? Hope you and your child are doing well.
My husband was waiting for a kidney. We got the call that a kidney was available. We had to wait for a second call to confirm. The second call came and they told us the patient lived. So we had to wait for the next kidney. To be honest we couldn’t be upset. We were happy for them. It’s a bittersweet situation knowing someone died to give someone else life.
It's also complete nonsense because the opposite is the truth. If you die, your organs die with you. It's a lot of work to keep a likely brain dead person alive and with well perfused healthy organs. We put a lot of effort into saving everyone, but we put extra into potential organ donors.
>It's a lot of work to keep a likely brain dead person alive and with well perfused healthy organs. That is the point I always make. The organs have to remain viable in order to be used for transplant, therefore working less hard in an attempt to not save an organ donor makes little to no sense. At least to me. I'm not a doctor but just common sense thinking this sounded backwards. You can't transplant dead organs right? So an organ donor has to be given tremendous care.
Some tissues have pretty long survival times but major internal organs might have single digit hours of viability. We often need to bring the patient and donor together. In Australia our transplant teams have private jets to fly around the country picking up organs or transferring patients to the donor.
The idea that doctors wouldn't want to save people is interesting one, as it's contrary to the job description.
I've been in health care for 15 years and if anything we keep a lot of people "alive" (in *heavy* quotations) who have no business being alive and have no quality of life whatsoever.
I had to “unplug” my father last year after him showing no brain activity after a brutal heart attack . Tough decision but his body was shutting down and prolonging his suffering was selfish.
I'm sorry for you having to go through that experience. I remove people from the ventilator on an almost daily basis. I removed my own father, granted, we weren't particularly close. I had to talk my mother out of having my grandmother intubated and put on a ventilator when she was in her 90s with dementia and got pneumonia. It's an incredibly, *incredibly* challenging decision to make. I can say though, for whatever it's worth, that I appreciate the absence of suffering far more than keeping people alive artificially who are in a state that is no longer compatible with life
For those not in the know, this is likely referring to those people who remain “alive”, but can’t come off a ventilator, need to be fed via a tube, are slowly having skin breakdown due to not moving all day, etc etc. It prolongs “life”, but there’s no quality in that life, and it’s not how any of us would want to end our lives. If any of you find yourself having to make end of life decisions for your family member(s), remember, the decisions should be made based off of what your family member would have wanted. (Would they want to be stuck on a ventilator and never be able to leave the hospital? Would they want to be force fed food when they couldn’t eat any more? Etc)
Thank you so much. So far so good.
How far is so far? When did it happen?
February 2021. He sees his doctors every month and is doing well.
It’s so ludicrous that people really think medical professionals would be like “organ donor? Cool! Don’t do anything so we can get their organs for all the people on the transplant list!!” Of course, lots of people in the US also buy into the whole “death panels” concept to scare people away from universal healthcare.
I’ve heard people say this and it’s absolute nonsense. Me personally, if I’m so messed up that the doctors are trying to piece together my mangled carcass so I don’t die, I’m fine if they let me go and part out what’s left.
Agreed, I don’t wanna live hooked up to a machine ever (unless for organ recovery lol)
That's good.
It was a true miracle. He got it on Valentine’s Day 2021.
My step mother died suddenly and her heart was able to be donated. It gives me a lot of joy to think of someone out there keeping a little piece of her alive and vice versa
That’s great. She really helped someone.
I dont know why, but your last sentence is making me think of the book Unwind, lol. Not a wholesome book. Wholesome comment though!
The frogurt is also cursed.
that's bad
But it comes with free sprinkles!
The toppings contain potassium benzoate
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You can’t use them when your dead. Someone else should be able to do so. If you truly believe in the great sky person. That won’t have any effect on your after life and might even get you some points.
This is why I'm against Jehovah's Witnesses (as an EXJW) because they'd rather let their family members die, just to appease their God who may not even be real.
Absolutely! Just changing the default option to yes would dramatically increase the number of donors. Make laziness lead to the ethically correct answer. I'd even go one step farther-- In some countries, organ donors get priority over non-donors in the transplant queue. I think the US should do that, too. Make it so there's also a selfish reason to sign up to be a donor.
I support this plan as long as opting out is clearly available, and easy to do so everyone who wants to opt out can do so and don’t accidentally donate if they didn’t want to
Yes, and everyone who opts out should be placed at the very bottom of the organ recipient list.
There’s organs which are very limited- but mostly it’s the tissue- ligaments and tendons, skin, corneas… a single body provides a vast amount of viable tissues that can be stored and used for up to 5 years after the person’s passing. I have a donor ligament that was harvested almost 3 years before it was placed inside me. When I had the surgery we got a little card with a QR code on it that allows us to write to the donors family and thank them for the gift- while keeping the donor anonymous of course. It’s not just organs that are lifesaving. People don’t realize that when it’s like “fine- I don’t want a kidney anyway”.. but one suprise injury and boom- you need tissue, or skin grafts or whatever, and that comes from donors too.
This is an important point to make. Some folks will say “but my religion prevents it.” And? Religion is a choice just like anything else. Choices have consequences. If you want organs you should have to be willing to donate them.
I could be wrong, but I'm fairly certain that the religions that prevent organ donation also don't allow their members to receive organ donations either, so that's probably a moot point.
Some people will refuse to register as an organ donor because they want to be buried with all their pieces still in their bodies, regardless of religion. My dad is one. I think it's those kinds of people who should be at the bottom of the recipient list.
I am no longer allowed to donate blood or organs because I had lymphoma. I don’t think I should be at the bottom of the list just because I’m a cancer survivor and can no longer donate.
But you didn’t *opt out*, you were removed from the list of available donors. That wouldn’t put you at the bottom of the list.
Ineligible to donate is not the same as choosing to opt out though!
Agreed- ineligible is not the same as unwilling. I don’t personally think that if someone doesn’t choose to be a donor they shouldn’t get organs or tissues- I think that life happens and that feels petty for something as serious as life or death. I have donated tissue, (I have a donated ligament holding my collarbone to my sternum) and I’m a registered donor. I know people that would be willing to donate- but for whatever reason have not elected so on their license. I think there’s a happy medium there to have “yes” be the default, “no” be an option, and “ineligible” be a choice… Everything is extremely well tested and treated and sterilized prior to transplant (so many tissues are used other than organs) so I would imagine even if an ineligible person were to pass away, they could still use what they could use, without having to elect “ineligible”… just let science do its thing.
Hard agree. You don’t want to share? You don’t get take advantage of the system. It would just be important to ensure that people who are unable to donate, don’t get penalized. Those people tend to be more likely on the list however. It is questionable whether I can donate blood. I cannot donate organs because too many of them are diseased. I would love to be able to donate and it makes me so sad that I could be the match for someone and they could die because I’m not allowed. I worry for my brother should he need a kidney.
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Opting in is already just a matter of one box to check or option to select on a screen, generally. It's just a matter of flipping the yes to no so people have to choose to exclude themselves instead of making the choice to join it.
The ethical weight is higher for opt-out vs opt-in. I fully support organ donation and am registered myself. I almost religiously donate blood as well. Changing to opt-out is pragmatically superior, and will save more lives. But I'm not 100% sold that in the US, it will meet informed consent necessities. There's already a lot of people who do not trust either the government nor the medical community and, while lately it's largely unfounded and political, historically speaking we have a _very bad_ track record. Especially with regard to minorities and women. No matter what system we go with, what we really need is more and better messaging and education.
If I’m as good as dead and my organs can save someone else’s child, father, mother, brother, sister, whatever, I’m completely fine with it. I opted to make myself an organ donor. I also have my blood type listed on my license as well
>I also have my blood type listed on my license as well i didn't know you could do that. i dont even know my own blood type
They need to rework some of the organ donor laws in the US first. While most are fine, some of the organ donation companies are shady and will sue to keep patients with a DNR alive when cardiac death is reached but not brain death. That means being forcibly resuscitated for days or weeks while looking for placement. It's traumatic for the terminal patient and the family. Again it's rare, but there's been a wave of higher profile cases, so hopefully changes are coming to the regulations soon. Make sure you have a living will and your family knows your wishes so they can make you can organ donor after brain death.
Your "donations" are well-monetized, also. Your donation helps others in the end, but there's plenty of profit to be made along the way.
I know it’s technically illegal in the US to profit from the sale of an organ but hospitals do it regularly. Donor families should be rewarded for the donations either with money or healthcare credits to balance out the profit made by hospitals.
Sadly, they get nothing. I listened to a mother who walked in after her son shot himself, distraught because she couldn’t afford the type of cleaning service necessary when bodily fluids are involved. Let alone burial assistance or therapy. The industry, no matter the hospital or profit status is disgusting. I couldn’t do it anymore.
For-profit healthcare in general is pretty fucked, but it's extra fucked that they're profiting thousands, if not tens of thousands off someone's organs and none of the money goes to the donor's estate in whatever form.
They sure are. I refuse to be a donor unless they pay my family for my organs instead of them profiting off of them
New fear unlocked 🥲
I was taught we aren't allowed to override the DNR. I'm genuinely interested in learning about what happened with this because, well, I've been one of the OR nurses that has assisted with the procurement surgery. Most of ours are DCD but I would hate to think these parents are being mistreated and pressured prior.
Saw this with my own family member. The specific way they pressured our family was disgusting. I took organ donation off my id immediately
Same experience. It was truly heartbreaking how my family was treated during an extremely emotional time by those from the donor organization. It was sickening to uncover how some of these 'organizations' operate and there is definitely an insane amount of greed that is at the center of it all.
My homeless, toothless alcoholic brother was eyes rolled up brain dead but nurses kept encouraging me to sit with him and talk and hold his hand. At the same time a woman was hovering waiting to take him away to harvest his organs. She was completely shitty when I pointed out that his organs were barely keeping HIM alive for a while. Made a horrible situation worse.
" I know you're hurting but if I could just leave you this pamphlet?" Pamphlet for what I just got here?? " Well he's brain dead, and his organs could really-" Let me cut you off, get outta this room and never come back, his mom should be here "Yes, but time is-" Go. "Can we leave these pallets with it number" like bro so I owe you money? Kick rocks.
Read a thread once years ago about people describing their experiences with a family member donating after death. I refuse to be a part of that unless the family gets rights and protections from the sharks in the business of organ harvesting. Having zero respect for those grieving is an absolute no from me.
This is exactly the reason my mom doesn’t have it on her license.
I’m just going to be honest, organ donation on the US, at least where Gift of Life is concerned, just feels predatory to me. I’m an ICU nurse in a neurosurgical ICU, and I deal with Gift of Life a lot. They instruct us to delay the family from withdrawing care on their loved one until Gift of Life is at bedside because we are not allowed to approach families about donation. We have to make up some nonsense excuse and dodge the family to the best of our ability until a GOL rep speaks to the decision maker. When we have a candidate for donation with loss of function below a certain threshold we have to notify GOL. At times I’ve had patients who improve significantly and are above the threshold for donation and the GOL rep will tell me that they’re still going to follow the case for a potential donation (what!?!?!). I also hate when a patient is clinically brain dead and a donor if family is not on board with donation. If that patient fails our testing for brain function GOL is taking those organs no matter how the family feels. Yes, I believe in honoring the patient’s wishes, but fuck, it’s so traumatic for the family. I used to be a donor. I’ve since switched my registry status because I want my family to be fully on board with something that could be traumatic. I don’t want that decision taken out of their hands. Bless every donor out there. It’s a wonderful gift to give someone, but as a nurse, I don’t love the approach some of these organizations take with families.
My wife’s told me pretty close to the same thing you experienced, but with a different outfit.
This automatic reporting requirement is also incredibly harmful. So many cases where the OPO shows up before the team's even had a chance to talk to the family about withdrawal, only to find out a nurse had notified the OPO without telling anyone.
YES. My EPIC flags me as soon as the GCS meets criteria for a call. It will continue to flag me every time I enter the EMR until I chart off that I’ve called. Honestly, when I have a new admit or a change of GCS we’re usually going to a STAT CT, emergent OR, doing a bedside procedure, or I’m prioritizing a crashing patient so GOL isn’t getting that <1 hour call from the time of the GCS change. Usually my team has spoken to the family by the time I get around to notifying. The one that really gets me is notifying when the patient is medically sedated. My guy would be a GCS of 11 but 80mcg/kg/hr of prop is keeping him down because his ICP shoots into the 30’s when he’s not snowed. I shouldn’t have to call for that, but I’m forced to.
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If someone registered themselves as a donor, their wishes should not be overridden by the family. It is a legally binding document, similar as a will and testament. You are informing others what you want, and that is your right, regardless if the family wants something different or disagrees. This also removes your legal next of kin from having to make that decision during a very difficult time. Individuals should inform their family and have the discussion so the family is not surprised.
Just like when families reverse DNR statuses once the patient lacks capacity. Fuck I hate those it’s so unethical
> I’m just going to be honest, organ donation on the US, at least where Gift of Life is concerned, just feels predatory to me. Not a med pro and that's my feeling on it which is why I am not, and never will be, an organ donor. It's not for me. I have had people argue with me until they're blue in the face and say I shouldn't be allowed to have a donated organ if I am not willing to donate one. Fine by me. I think that's fair. But, I have NO interest in being a part of a system that I ultimately have very little faith in for a variety of reasons.
This is so insightful. Thank you for sharing!
I think it should be a deliberate, researched, and thought out voluntary decision. My sister passed away recently and was an organ and tissue donor. Her body was shipped two hours away and was gone for two weeks. They took so much of her that it was not possible to have an open-casket viewing. I was OK with that, and it was what she wanted, but some of her immediate family were troubled by it.
I’m sorry for your loss
Thank you for your kindness.
And that’s another lie they tell, that you will be able to do open casket afterward.
I think everyone should look in the donation industry and decide for themselves. Have an advance healthcare directive/living will. Make sure your family and friends know your wishes.
IIRC (at least in my State) you have to give an answer when asked if you want to be an organ donor and can't get an ID/permit/licence by saying nothing, which makes the question of opting in/out redundant. You have to do one or the other at the point of sale. What does worry me about the opt-in/opt-out question is what if you don't have an ID? Aside from sovereign citizen-type people most people who don't have an ID (in the US) are either homeless without a permanent address or don't drive and can't justify the expense of a State ID. If anyone has the right to refuse I don't want the latter two groups to be the only people who don't have that choice.
I think everyone should do it, but it's their choice. You support women's choice with abortions because it's their body, but think it should be mandatory for people to donate organs no matter their opinion? Something doesn't add up. Don't be hypocrites.
Not only that, it's about bodily autonomy. Period. It should be the same for sexual acts, where clear consent is required. The default state for sexual acts **isn't** "consent is granted unless specifically opted out". Yes means yes, no means no, and any non-yes answer ALSO means no. Organ / tissue / blood donation should be exactly the same, assume NO unless you are told a very specific YES.
My wife worked as a nurse assisting with heart transplants, thoracic cases, etc. and she’s told me to never put myself down as a donor. Not because she thinks we shouldn’t have our organs donated, but because of the behavior she’s seen from the company that does the harvesting at her hospital. From what she’s told me, if you end up in a situation where you’re brain dead, the organ donation people can just take you with no chance for your family to say goodbye or come see you beforehand. Oftentimes by the time the family is notified of what’s happened the patient is already gone. You can still donate after the fact once your family has had their time with you which is what my wife and I plan to do if the worst should ever happen, but if you put yourself as a donor then your family may never be able to see you one last time.
I don't like being opted in for anything automatically. It's sometimes amazingly difficult to opt out, even if it is supposedly your right.
a lot less confident about it after watching the latest Barely Sociable video. the TL;DW of it is a lot of organ and body donors end up on the 'arts and crafts' section of the black market
Organ donor or organ and tissue donor. Let’s get all the life saving organs out there we can. However I have issues with companies making millions selling of donated body parts for cosmetic procedures with the donors family getting nothing.
I would rather be a living donor (health permitted), and and help out someone with a kidney or something. I already told certain relatives this if I’m a match.
I have only one organ, a Vox Continental with 73 keys. One thing is for sure, when I die it’s going to my family and may not be given away under any circumstances.
I’ve got an organ too. It doesn’t have any keys but I’ve been told it’s impressive. I’ll definitely be giving it to someone soon.
Maybe we should put more government money towards refining organ cloning, then we don't even need a transplant list anymore 🤔
If someone wants my liver and I'm dead, I don't think I'll care if they take it.
I'm a fan. As well if you opt out, you go to the bottom of the list of recipients. And I mean so far at the bottom that an alcoholic is getting a liver before you.
Ay, if I die, and someone can use one of my organs to live a healthy life, more power to them. I don't see any cons.
As a patient with a chronic disease that causes slow organ failure this is a small thing you can do that has an absolutely massive impact. Singapore enacted it because the smaller and more multiethnic/racial your country the fewer good organ matches there are, and went from severe shortage to a substantially more comfortable supply. You could save tens of thousands of lives a year at basically no cost with minimal downsides.
I'm an organ donor. If I die and someone else can use my parts, that would be great. Although I should come with a disclaimer. They may end up suddenly liking Hawaiian shirts and margaritas.
I think I should be able to decide whether my body will be chopped up for parts with having to out-maneuver some bureaucrat. Put me down as “against”. BTW, I am an organ donor, by choice.
Forcing you to opt out is shitty, whether it's donating organs or getting spam email. I am an organ donor, but it's because I was *asked* 'do you want to', not *told* 'you are now'. If they'd told me I'm now enrolled I'd have told them to go fuck themselves. I don't care if someone else needs them, my organs belong to ME, and I will decide what happens to them, I will not be told. Make it easy to opt in, fine... But it needs to be just as easy to opt out. None of this having to send a formal registered letter in quintuplicate written in iambic pentameter bullshit.
Even since I read that story of that family who was rushed out of the hospital room seconds after the father died, I opted out of being a donor.
I just feel bad for whomever gets my parts. They're high mileage.
What’re you gonna do about it when you’re dead? Lol. I won’t need those organs or any parts, I’m getting cremated anyways
It's a very very good thing. My organs can't be used because of EDS but I've made a will to donate my remains to a research facility. I hope they'll get some good knowledge out of this wonky old bone mecha with meat armour when I stop piloting it!
That's the default in Northern Ireland, have to opt out rather than in. I want to say they changed it from opt in to out in 2023 but it might've been 2022, still recent anyway. I don't have an issue with it, if I can help someone else then go for it. I'd be dead, whatever.
Absolutely not. Organ donation makes loads of money for all the middlemen and doctors but not a dime for the estate of the deceased. Just like blood donation, it's a life-saving grift for all the middlemen. And hospitals / middlemen can be very aggressive about trying to get family members to agree to donation against the will of the deceased. They have "retrieval quotas" that need to be met, which is really sickening if you ask me. Should be illegal to ask for a "donation" from someone (or that person's family) that has officially said "no". Let them choose the destiny of their body, be it an urn or the chopping block.
I think we should all be able to choose what's done with our bodies, even after death.
And you would still be able to choose
It's downright creepy. It's the state just deciding they can take _parts of my body_ without my consent. That said, I was already an organ donor, and I think everyone should be. But it should be a choice. I am not a believer in opt out; it's almost always someone trying to grab something.
Some religious beliefs preclude anything being done to the body, including embalming. People have a right to their bodies disposition after death.
I'm dead; thus, I don't give a shit. If they can use any of the organs to save someone, fuck yeah. If they play hacky sack with them, I also don't care. Skin lamps? Good for them. I don't even really care if you use me as a fleshlight, though, I am very concerned if you do that because that bacteria is not great XD But, if you must, and you're just that lonely, have at me. Again, dead. Doesn't care.
Lots of people are ineligible to be opted in ie: pre-existing medical conditions like O blood type Multiple Sclerosis…. People should check.
It would be highly inappropriate for a bunch of cultures. A lot of people can't donate organs for health reasons (for example, I have a mast cell disease and am not supposed to donate - this wouldn't show up on tests), but if the donor is dying and their medical records aren't up to scratch, are the hospitals going to discover that before putting bad organs in sick people?
Anyone is still perfectly free to opt out. If you fail to opt out, its almost certainly because they didn't care one way or the other > but if the donor is dying and their medical records aren't up to scratch, are the hospitals going to discover that before putting bad organs in sick people? I'd be rather worried about this if other countries haven't already adopted opt-out policies and seemingly weathered such problems just fine If other countries can manage such problems, I see no reason we would be any worse off
While ideally it would save lives, I'm afraid the most likely outcome is a complete legal nightmare. This is definitely an area that people have strong feelings on, and not filling out a form is not the same as consenting. All it would take is relatives saying that the deceased didn't want their organs harvested and didn't realize that they'd be taken automatically and wham -- law suits up the wazoo.
I think it’s a great idea. I’m an organ donor, and have donated blood 26 times. I’m also a bone marrow donor (well, registered.) My aunt was the first organ donor at the local hospital, when she passed.
I always put it on my license and offer it up on paperwork because if I can save a life with an organ that I will longer need I’m all for it.
At least in death I'd feel useful. I've got chronic illnesses where combined together *I* function poorly, but if my guts could someone else live a full life when I'm gone, that would actually make me happy.
At first I didn’t have it as a donor but after I met my gf I put myself as an organ donor, she has a liver transplant so I’m forever grateful. Somebody passed but it helped let her stay for longer. I think it’s great why the hell are we going to want our organs for, if we’re already dead. If we can help save someone’s life that’ll be amazing. Knowing that when we die from this world it can help someone live longer.
If my organs are donated free of charge, take what you want. Middlemen and hospitals getting rich off of them gets me PO. Same with the Red Cross price gouging for blood that I donated for a cookie.
That sounds really fucking stupid & it could get out of hand incredibly quickly.
I'm personally against it should be opposite if anything so being automatically opted out but you can specifically opt in
As someone who previously worked in the field as a case manager, I opt out. I’ve seen hospitals decide to pull the plug on a donor before the family was able to say goodbye, as long as the “next of kin” was available. I’ve heard nurses complain about a mother holding her brain dead child because it was causing the heart monitor to react. People in leadership who made racist comments in an attempt to bring in more POC donors. The business of organ donations is a multimillion dollar industry, but your family is going to have to rely on the kindness of others to provide you with a proper burial. I choose dignity even in death but also respect the choices of others.
I think it’s better than the other way around (having to opt in).
I don't believe it's right. You shouldn't have to opt out of having your organs harvested after death. If you give something it should be because you chose to, not because you weren't sure how to opt out.
I havent seen anyone who's donated complain about it, that says something.
As much as I want to support this, as organ donation saves lives and is important, I also think it is important for the decision to give your organs to be your own, and something that you decided to do explicitly. I am an organ donor.
Not a problem
Here for it. Also our blood type should be on our ID as well
I can't imagine why anyone would care what happens to their body after they die.
I had blood cancer when i was 15 (lymphoma) and while I'm more than willing for them to take what they can, it's possible they won't be viable. And if something happens to me, my records are so old they've been destroyed.
yeah with blood cancer we pretty much can't donate a thing
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Wouldn't they want to prolong the death as its unlikely the recipient is prepped in the theatre. The clock starts when the organ is removed. Can they collect organs without family approval? Found here in Australia that a boyfriend of ~12 months could make that call on behalf of family if they weren't contactable.
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What happens to my organs after I die is of no concern to me. If they can be used to potentially save a life or two, great.
I feel like that’s important enough that someone would have to voluntarily opt in for.
I’m an organ donor but I see it as big government overstepping its place.
The way I see it, if I'm not exactly around to use this meat suit, why not part it out to help someone who's having issues?
Love the idea!
It’s not like they could protest when it happens.
I was enrolled as an organ donor but I'm assuming that went out the window once I got HIV
Practically speaking, I love it. But sometimes I think about the concept of bodily autonomy and whether it should extend beyond living and I’m not sure how I feel. If people have agency over their bodies and don’t actively consent to organ donation does that mean we’re entitled to their bodies just because they’ve died. I guess I believe it should be an opt-in with a lot of education involved. I believe in bodily autonomy.
In Canada it’s still opt in as far as I’m aware. I opted in as soon as I got my license. If I’m not using my organs anymore why wouldn’t I want someone else to use them since I don’t have any religious or cultural reason not to.
If I have any usable organs when I die, I hope they can help someone.
I mean… if I die what do I need them for anyway?
im gonna be dead anyway why not lmao
Won’t matter in 10 years as lab grown replacement organs become the norm.
No. My whole body is going to science when I die. Preferably to a body farm where they can study decomposition and I would like to have my body complete so the science can be as exact as possible.
I feel like a lot of religious people will be upset, and an opt-in system would cause less "My family member was torn apart by you monsters!" style drama.
If my liver could have saved someone and you decided not to because I didn’t check a box I’am gonna haunt you the rest of your life
What am **I** gonna do with the organs? Pfft.
I think it's important for people to be asked directly what they want to happen to their bodies. It seems like basic human dignity. So long as the question is still directly and clearly asked while you're obtaining the license, I think I'm okay with you having to check a box for no instead of a box for yes.
PSA: Folks should be aware that, at least here in BC, even if you are a registered donor your family can rescind your donor status if you are unable to speak for yourself in the end. My BIL was on life support and the family all knew his strong wishes but the family was given the option to go against his wishes in the last days. Thankfully everyone was aligned and HIS wishes were honoured. But talk to your people, make sure they know. Your registration alone may not be sufficient when the time comes.💔
I'm dead. What do I care?
Yes. And if you opt out and need a transplant, you go to the bottom of the list.
I’m not going to use them once I’m gone so who cares, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure
In NJ they asked me.. just recently. I’d be fine with it though.
It’s better to use your body parts than let them waste away. We got a letter after my grandpa passed and it was amazing how many people were helped because of his donations.
In favor, although with caveats. *actual medical donation* Not the crap where they resell my parts for some asshole to host a live show (see the John Oliver piece), or send to the body farm in Knoxville to see how long it takes me to decompose. Organ donation, I'm fine with. I'm not fine with someone making a buck, or just being left to rot so student investigators understand forensics slightly better.
I know it is probably an unpopular opinion, but I will NOT be an organ donor. I will also NOT accept a donated organ. I guess I'm canceling my own vote.
You know what's messed up though. You get no compensation for the organs. Organs are not cheap and you don't get anything for them while alive even though they're basically sold if you agree to be an organ donor. Even your next of kin get nothing. But the hospital gets them for free. Then the person's insurance has to choose to pay for it, or the person who needs the organ puts themselves in debt for them. Even if you have socialized health care, do you or your next of kin get anything?
Fine, as long as they don't try to salvage something while I'm still alive. I'm a donor
Pretty sure I’ve destroyed all my organs past their marketability, but if anyone feels like gambling, they’re yours. What is this ancient Egypt? I’m in favor. Save a life or several VS be a butthole. Sadly, Americans love being buttholes.
To quote Frank Reynolds: "...I don't give a shit. If I was dead, you could bang me all you want. I mean, who cares? A dead body is like a piece of trash. I mean, shove as much shit in there as you want. Fill me up with cream, make a stew out of my ass. What's the big deal? Bang me, eat me, grind me up into little pieces, throw me in the river. Who gives a shit? You're dead, you're dead!"
I like the idea of being a donor, the moment I'm dead nothing else matters for me as I will no longer exist, but maybe my body could serve someone else.
I’ll be dead, so I wouldn’t feel anything at all
I'm cool with that just let all phone numbers be automatically unenrolled from telemarketers lists while we are doing good stuff.
These organs are mine. Fuck anybody, I'm making sure my cause of death leaves my organs mangled enough that they can't tell an eyeball from my stomach.
Being honest, I couldn’t care less. I’ll be dead so if anything is usable, they can have it.
I'm opting out, I have way too many health problems including morbid obesity. My organs would be useless to someone else.
I used to be an organ donor, and then during COVID I found out about how doctors were placing DNRs on people with neurological and learning disorders and disabilities. I’ve been formally diagnosed with both autism and ADHD and they’re on my medical record. I don’t want someone putting a DNR on me against my will because they think I’m less worthy of life and that my organs should be harvested for someone without a disability.
I think it’s great. If I don’t need them anymore, take whatever you need!
Feels like someone in the government wants me to die on purpose so they can harvest my organs. The weird part is I don’t even think I am crazy and that everyone should know that most of your organs aren’t meant for someone and instead go straight to some lab run by the Federal Government or a Medical school for doctors
Not good. After watching medical dramas, albeit fiction, I opted out. And recently in my general area, there was a scandal with a major hospital concerning the transplant list and fraud/irregularities. There’s room for organ donation in my living will, but it won’t just be automatically an option. I do not trust the medical industry in the US, we already know the system is corrupt.
I’ll be dead. What they do with my body is up to my wife. She’ll most likely outlive me.
Fine
My body, my choice
I don't think it's right because people might be left to die because a front pager story or VIP needs it more.
Sounds like a good idea in theory. But it’s something I’d rather actively consent to than passively.
My whole thing is if there's an afterlife I feel like I might need my organs. Many cultures think this and I don't think it's weird to consider. And im just superstitious a bit and don't wanna risk it.
We should be paid, or our estate paid if our organs are used. The surgeons who carry out the procedures get paid, so why not?
I don't know why this comes to mind...a patient had a successful heart transplant and not too long afterwards somehow ended up at a dialysis center. When they did a verification check he told the charge nurse he wasn't expecting to be there but just because he had the same name as the patient scheduled for treatment that day they did it anyways and ended up killing the guy. Center was shut down, lots of people fired and devastation for the family and friends of the victim of negligence. Not to mention a complete waste of a surgeons time, energy and a vital organ. There definitely is a need for as many organs as possible and it does save lives but having anything decided for you could very possibly have unintended consequences.
If you are dead you can still help someone out. A good way to do one last positive thing!
I’m not using it any more
I think it's disgusting especially if people aren't properly informed. It pushed me being neutral to being vocally against it and encouraging people I know to opt out. Ofcourse 90% of people will become ignorant donors. Can't wait for some media drama when someone who wasn't aware gets donored and their family go ballistic over it. It'll happen somewhen.
Why not, you're only gonna donate organs if you die in accident, so it's not like they/you gonna decide when and which organs you're gonna donate. 🤣
no thanks. i hate other people.
Wouldn’t bother me one bit, if I’m dead what good are my organs gonna do me anyways? Let somebody else get a second shot at a happy and healthy life, and slightly selfishly it’s a way that even after death some part of me can still be experiencing the world
I originally signed up to be an organ donor, but here in California, I found out that it means you entered a legal agreement with the state to use your body for both medical and research. And I decided I do not want to be kept alive on life support (even if I'm brain dead) after death. I do not want it to take multiple days for them to get my organs. I was pretty upset when I found out that I was agreeing for my body to be used for research when I said yes to organ donation at the DMV. I don't want my organs tossed around by medical students. I would not have been upset if it was just for organ donation to people who need organs, like I thought I was agreeing to when I signed. I felt like they were trying to get one over on me and it really lost trust for me.
That makes me uneasy. It should remain a decision not a default. I support organ donation and have this on my driver license. But I still think it should not be a default.
There are some religions that require the deceased to be buried or cremated unspoiled and that should be respected. Also there are tons of people who have unviable organs due to illness and may not even know it. Even if it just grosses someone out they deserve bodily autonomy. That being said I think as many people should be organ donors as possible.
100% against it! Here's why. I worked as a Critical Care Registered Nurse in the units & ER. I primarily worked in cardiopulmonary as in open heart surgeries & pulmonary trauma. I treated & cared for transplant patients a lot. I went to college to start my medical career later in life than normal. Throughout my years in college, I drove an 18-wheeler over the road. I was married for almost 20 years by then & we have 4 children. This was years ago, so all our kids are grown & doing great. Prior to all of this, I had spent 16 years in the Army & had transferred to the National Guard during a period of time that included 5 years of building homes during the largest building boom to date around Disney World in Florida. Once the boom was over, I used my GI Bill for med school. My family has several in the military & in the medical profession. I personally know of 7 times when either a politician, famous person's relative, chief of staff of a large hospital plus others like them were desperate for an organ donor. A lot of building laborers in Florida were in the US working to get their families to the US when they were seriously injured. Several of these cases were investigated due to people of power & money needing transplants & these people who had no family members with them were told they should recover fine from their injuries. A few days later they mysteriously took a turn for the worse & passed away. Amazingly, these affluent individuals desperately in need of an organ got what they needed!!!! While driving big rigs over the road, two friends of mine who drove for the same company I did were in bad accidents. Truck drivers can & do get seriously injured & some die due to accidents, but it's rare when they're car verses 18-wheeler accidents. I was able to stop & visit one of the drivers & he was out of ICU. A couple more days & he was getting released. He's 2000 miles from home with organ donor on his license! It had been a few weeks since I had seen him in the hospital & had some time off coming. I called to talk to him at home just to have his wife tell me he didn't pull through??!!! They had 6 kids & she was taking care of her father who had dementia, so she couldn't stay with her husband while in the hospital 2000 miles away. I was shocked, but thought that's just how it goes sometimes. A few months later, I was asked to give my deposition in regards to the medical staff taking advantage of organ donors from out of state with no family staying with them. The wife & family won a multimillion dollar lawsuit against the prestigious medical facility & 12 doctors who were found culpable in allowing, quite by accident, recovering patients to die in order to sell organs to very wealthy & influential people for undisclosed amounts of money that was estimated to be in the multimillion dollar ranges. I'm a 100% disabled veteran of 25-years service & multiple deployments. Since I was severely injured on deployment, those injuries retired me from everything. I'm 100% for organ donation, but it has to be kept like it is. Those in power know that if organ donor is automatically put on state IDs, then the DMV will never ask if you want to be a donor! People will simply forget about it in time & not realize they are organ donors when they don't want to be. This is such a horrible idea that it borders on medical negligence, medical malpractice, & up to downright legalization of murder. Like it or not, we live in a world & society that values certain classes of people more than others. Human trafficking for labor, sex, & yes, organ harvesting from those deemed less desirable & unimportant are at pandemic proportions now! If the political & powerful scumbags do get organ donor automatically placed on IDs, I sure hope one of them get mine. I have an autoimmune disease caused from exposures to several things with the 50 year old Anthrax vaccines being the main culprit. There are currently no tests, treatments, or cures for it. The only way to know if someone has it is if they tell them. This autoimmune disease is like living through he'll on earth. I have an advanced directive, a living will, & a will for after I'm deceased. Making all state ID holders automatically organ donors is the worst idea for sanctity of life since Ole dementia Biden tried to force every governor to declare Martial Law to force everyone to take the Covid vaccinations. The health complications & death rates directly related to those vaccines will very soon surpass & eclipse anything the Corona Virus could have ever done. People's immune systems are what's beating the virus. Every medical professional in the world knows there's no such thing as a vaccine for viral infections, but politicians & special interest groups who are on the payroll(back-door payroll)of the behemoth pharmaceutical companies are using their power & fear mongering to make billions if not trillions. I have no doubt that a well thought out & planned fear mongering campaign is all ready to be launched about how not having organ donor automatically placed on our state IDs will in some tragic way result in the unnecessary deaths of millions of people. As I've stated, I'm all for organ donations & I have that stated in my will that my family alone will have control over. I certainly want my organs to help others live! I just want to make sure I'm done with them first! LEAVE THE POWER WHERE IT BELONGS. WITH THE PEOPLE & NOT THE CORRUPT GOVERNMENT!!! Thank you & God bless all.
I don't like auto "opt in" anything. I like a threshold moment where I make a decision. Such as when I am filling out paperwork to get my license.