Organ Donors: Did you know?

Organ Donors: Did you know?

Organ Donors do you know, what being an Organ Donor consist of? Most people in today’s society do not; there is so much information that should be documented in a way where everyone can be informed about it. For an example: When you are at the DMV to get a driver’s license, and the instructor asks if you would like to be an Organ Donor. Along with asking that question he or she could provide you with a booklet/brochure informing the reader about it, before they make their final decision.

According to The Cleveland Clinical Center for Organ Donation and Transplantation states that, “an organ donation by definition is the process of surgically removing anorgan or tissue from one person (the organ donor) and placing it into anotherperson (the recipient)” . Transplantation is necessary because the recipient's organ, such as a kidney, a liver, a heart, or even a lung, has either failed or has been damaged by disease or injury. Since 2003, living donations were rising dramatically; the ethical issue has proven to weigh heavily on the population. On an average, 75 people receive an organ a day, and 20 people who cannot receive an organ die each day. This issue behind live donors and the treatment and compensation after the donation process leaves numbers which may seem small compared to the overall population, however when this number is specifically coming from the need of donations needed and this is happening on an everyday bases which proves to become a rising issue. According to the US Department of Health & Human Services “people of everyage give and receive organ donations in 2012, 28,051 people received organtransplants” . The number of recipients by age group from ages 1 through age 65+ the older the recipients the greater the number. These numbers are notable because if any of the living donors listed had any complications, it is likely that they were not compensated by the state. Organs have been successfully transplanted since the 1950s, although it wasn't until 2006 that the United Network for Organ Sharing began asking transplant centers to report on the health status of its donors. According to reports by the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, however, transplant centers have lost track of more than one-third of their donors one year after their donations. Furthermore, few centers report any laboratory results on their donors, andsome centers consistently fail to report any data at all.

 

The need for organ donors is widespread throughout the world, and everyone has the potential to be affected by this. Many people will experience someone close to them, if not they themselves, needing an organ donation of some sort. The effects of this could possible come from the medical expenses. Hospitals charge close to 10,000 dollars for just surgery, that’s just for the procedure for them to move organs from person to person. There are a lot more other bills then just the surgery bill, such as the hospital bill not including the procedure bill and the doctor’s bill. At the end of the day doctors are mainly the problem with people getting over charged, all doctors want their money and really do not care how they get it from their patients. Therefore they are going to target the patients who already have the money to pay them right away, rather than the ones who don’t have the money and is on the waiting list. Those people who are on the waiting list are usually the ones who die. The implications of this issue are great due to the fact that this is not only a disheartening issue but one that cannot be resolved quickly. This affair first came about shortly after the first time an organ donation has been attempted. Compensation became an issue once some complications began to get reported. People do not donate organs for various reasons, such as the lack of money, the fear of how they are going to life, or if they are going to die. People who do donate organs reasons may be because they are related to the patient, or for “good” moral standing. For whatever reason chosen, an assortment of complications has caused this to become an ethical issue of compensation and liability. 

There are three major models that were put in place concerning organ donation: “1)clarify unanswered legal questions about donation, including exactly who coulddonate, 2) create an easy-to-use legal donation mechanism – the organ donorcard, and 3) encourage the law’s widespread adoption”.  By 1971, all three goals were achieved and the Uniform Act was enacted in all 50 states, with little or no modification. Although these models are the basis of principle when conducting these donations, there are some significant effects for the donor. Some effects that the organ donor may have after donating would be the natural physical effect of the necessary healing process. There is a possibility of some psychological effects to take place, as the donor may end up under a substantial amount of traumatic stress that is less than ideal for the healing process. Other effects for the donor would be the academic process which generally ensues to the lack of knowledge of information pertaining what an organ donor is. This in part is due to the “hindsight” effect where the donor wouldn’t actually know what the experience is about until they have been through the experience or witnessed someone who has been through it.  According to Deborah L. Shelton an reporter for the Chicago Tribune, a recipient by the name of Laura suffered from many complications following her donation with no compensation or assistance from the state following her life-threatening experience. Laura was interviewed by Deborah due to a report made, that Laura was assured that she would not be billed for her kind liberality prior to the surgery, although afterward she suffered from many complications and was forced to be hospitalized to address the issue, and then she was billed for the duration of her stay. It was said that Laura was not compensated by the state for the many bills that she received, nor did the state tend to the many physical and psychological effects that Laura suffered from this traumatic experience. Some donors have had complications that have caused them to have setbacks which have disrupted their initial plan and purpose for donating. Some causes or reasons for these effects could be the fact that there is no reward behind choosing to go through with the procedure as well as the functioning thereafter. This is an issue with a considerable amount of gravity considering how many people are affected.

In conclusion, the rising issue of compensation for organ donors will continue to be pressed and the argument for compensation is one to be heard until a common resolution is to be found. This issue is becoming a big problem all around the world not only in the United States of America, but also in other countries such as China, Europe, and etc. As I said earlier in this essay, there should be more information about being an organ donor out in the world today. Handing out brochures at the DMV offices could really help people make a life changing decision. In fact there should be a class in all of our high schools about organ donations, teens as well as adults have no clue at all about what an organ donor is, has to offer, or the consequences behind it. Colleges should offer courses about organ donations, the sessions don’t have to be long at all. The students can meet at least 2-3 times a week for at least 30 minutes at the most.

Youtube Video

This video is published by Sarah Savickas on Apr. 30, 2013. This video opens up the eyes of a lot of people, it has so many different meanings. From the shortage in supply, to the two different types of organ donors. This short video provides a lot of information, I chose this video because the information provided is very helpful, some of the information i didnt even know about. I think this will help whoever is viewing this video better understand the problem of being a organ donor as well as the definition of an organ donor.

Book: Organ Transplants

Organ Transplants is written by Ben-David and Orit Brewer, it was published in Westport, Connecticut in 2005 by Praeger Publishers. The chapter I chose to write about is chapter 3 (Shortage For Donors), this chapter is about the shortage of organs that has a lot of people on a waiting list that sometimes takes years. It informs the audience about the consequences that come behind the fact that there is not enough organs/organ donors. I chose this chaper and book because I feel that uninformed readers should know about the shortage.

website

Organ Donation Has Consequences Some Donors Aren't Prepared For is written by Gretchen Cuda-Kreon, it was published in the treatments section of the Health News From NPR website on July 02 2012. This article is about a man named Jeff Moyer who has donated a kidney, because he thought he was doing a good deed. He was not aware of nun of the consequences and problems that he was getting himself into. Now that he has donated his kidney, he is beginning to get symptoms that he never had before, even though he gave the kidney away, he actually needed it. Moyer is now feeling daily pain that is preventing him from working. I chose this article to inform readers about this mistake he made. Just because your doctor says it is ok to give up one of your organs do not mean that your bod says it is ok.

Journal #2

Organ Donation is written by Lise M. Stevens, it was published on January 9th 2008, in the news journal section of the JAMA (The Journal of the American Medical Association) website. This Journal article is about Organ Donors and how to be a organ donor. It provides the definition of a donor, as well as give you actual facts about being an organ donor. This article walks you through step my step on how to become organ donor and the consequences or procedures behind it. I've chosen this article because I think it is important for people to know what a actually organ donor is and what they have to go through whether they are dead or alive.

Magazine

A New Approach to Organ Donation is written by Darshak Sanghavi, it was published on December 16, 2009, in the magazine section of The New York Times website. This magazine article is about a mothers and fathers who lost their daughters at a young age, and wanted parts of her body to live and save lives. This article also talks about the D.C.D rule, the D.C.D stands for donation after cardiac death. This rule means that doctors can not go through with any procedure until it has been finalize that every single organ in the body is pronounced dead. I chose this article because I've never seen parents so willing to give her their dead child's organs. I realized that they must really love their daughter and care for other who are in need of organs.

Newspaper

Organ transplant decisions should be made by doctors, not courts is written by Carla Hall, it was published in the organ donor section of the Los Angeles Times newspaper on June 13, 2013. This article is about how the courts are trying to control doctors operations. The courts are trying to tell doctors who to give the transplants to and when they should give them to a specific patient. "We don’t let people buy organs and we don’t let someone’s race or religion dictate where they stand in line for them. Nor should we let the civil courts--or the court of public opinion--subvert medical decisions" ( Hall). I chose this article because I had no idea that court houses had any control with organ donations. I always thought it was up to the doctors and the doctors only. This article informed me that there is more to this topic "Organ Donations" then I thought there was.

.gov

Organ shortage crisis: problems and possible solutions is written by Abouna GM, published in Janurary year of 2008, it doenst have the exact date only the month and the year.This web page is found on  the pubmed.gov website under the resources section. This article is about the problems/solutions of the organ shortage crisis. It states that the demand for organ transplants has vigerously increased through out the whole world due to every day organ failure. According to author Abouna "the organ shortage crisis will be eliminated and many lives will be saved through the process of organ donation and transplantation" (Abouna P.1 L.13). I chose this article because I would like for the people who is on the donation list to get what they wish for in order to save thier lifes. I want to know how doctors plan on ending these problems and finding solutions to fix these problems.

.com

The Solvable Problem of Organ Shortages is written by Jane E. Brody, published on August 28, 2007. This web page is found on the New York Times website under the Health section.
This article is about the shortage of organs needed by thousands of people, it states that there is usually a 5 year waiting period for organs, with 97,000 people waiting 17 die a day. Doctors are trying to find a way to increase the supply of organs, this topic gets deeper and deeper the more you read further into the passage. I chose this article because I am an organ donor for one, so I would like to know how they work their procedures on the dead or alive. I find it fascinating that they can disconnect an living organ from its source and connect it to another source. I know there is damage being done to it but I will get into that when I widen my knowledge about this topic.

Introduction

The topic that i have chose to write about is organ donations. I picked this topic because it happens to be a fast growing problem in todays society. There are many arguments that are being caused with this topic.