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...read this, nearly 80,000 Americans are waiting for a new heart, kidney or some other organ that could save their life. Tragically, about 6,000 of them will die this year--nearly twice as many people as perished in the Sept. 11 attacks--because they won't get their transplant in time. The vast majority of Americans (86%, according to one poll) say they support organ donation. But only 20% actually sign up to do it. Why the shortfall...
Part of the problem is the way we handle organ donations. Americans who want to make this sort of gift have to opt in--that is, indicate on a driver's license that when they die, they want their organs to be made available. Many European and Asian countries take the opposite approach; in Singapore, for example, all residents receive a letter when they come of age informing them that their organs may be harvested unless they explicitly object. In Belgium, which adopted a similar presumed-consent system 12 years ago, less than 2% of the population has decided...
Meanwhile, if you want to ensure that your organs are donated when you die, you should say so in a living will or fill out a Uniform Donor Card (available from the American Medical Association). Make sure your closest relatives know about it. And if you don't want to donate an organ, you should make your wishes equally explicit...
...Organ donation can be a squeamish topic even for doctors, says Dr. Brody. Current law actually allows the harvesting of organs from people carrying donor cards, even over familial objections. It?s just that very few doctors have the stomach to override the wishes of a grieving family. (The HHS committee also suggested allowing organs to be harvested unless families actively prohibit...
...This is a critical public health issue, and yet interest among the American public remains perfunctory at best. The number of patients dying while waiting for organs has been on the rise for years, primarily due to modern medicine?s ability to keep people with debilitating illnesses alive for months, even years, while waiting for replacement organs. An increasing number of deaths, while tragic, may at least help raise public awareness about organ donations...