LifeSharers

2016-03-21T11:19:00.000-05:00

LifeSharers has shut down.

If your durable power of attorney for healthcare mentions your agreement to donate your organs through LifeSharers, you should change it.

If you have told your family and/or your doctors that you want to donate your organs through LifeSharers, you should let them know that's no longer possible.

U.S. transplant waiting list now over 120,000

2013-10-31T09:18:00.000-05:00

There are now over 120,000 people waiting for organ transplants in the United States, up from 115,000 only 14 months ago. Over half of the people who need transplants will die before they get one.

Next year over 50,000 people will join the waiting list, but less than 30,000 people will receive transplants.

Only about half of adult Americans are registered organ donors. Every year, about 20,000 transplantable organs are buried or cremated instead of being donated. Every year, over 10,000 Americans die because they couldn’t get an organ transplant.

Everyone willing to receive an organ transplant to live should be willing to donate their organs after they die. Everyone can offer to donate their organs when they die, no matter what their medical history or condition. By offering their organs first to other registered organ donors, LifeSharers members create an incentive for non-donors to become donors. Membership is free and open to all at www.lifesharers.org.

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In Israel, giving organ donors priority leads to more organ donors

2013-02-07T13:13:00.000-06:00

According to an article in the Jerusalem Post:

Giving people who registered as potential organ donors higher priority in receiving organs if they need them has significantly increased the number listed with ADI/National Transplant Center....

According to the center’s annual report released by the Health Ministry on Wednesday, more than 100,000 more individuals joined the registry in 2012. The total number of Israelis with ADI cards has reached an unprecedented 717,300 people. In addition, over 50 people on the ADI list who needed an organ transplant themselves received one by getting higher priority for it.

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Preferred access drives 16% increase in organ donor cards in Israel

2012-01-12T08:18:00.000-06:00

An article at Haaretz.com quantifies the increase in signed organ donor cards in Israel in the first year following announcement of a new law giving holders of organ donor cards priority access to organs. The law goes into effect in April, 2012.

The number of cardholders has considerably increased recently following a publicity campaign touting the new law. Anyone signing the card before April will be immediately eligible for the benefit, while those signing after the law goes into effect will need to wait three years for eligibility after signing.

The number of organ donor signatures rose 71,229 during the year to a total of 632,300 while another 20,000 requests for the cards are being processed by the National Transplant Center.

That amounts to an increase of over 16% in organ donor signatures.

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Preferred access causes organ donor surge in Israel

2012-01-03T10:08:00.000-06:00

Organ donor registration is way up in Israel after organ donors were given priority access to donated organs.

The Jerusalem Post reports:

Due to the population’s surge of interest in obtaining an organ donor card, the Adi-National Israel Transplant Center has extended through March 31 the deadline to register as a donor and receive special benefits.

Anyone who registers as a potential organ donor will be eligible immediately for high priority for obtaining an organ for himself or a first-degree relative and does not have to wait for this privilege for three more years.

The deadline was supposed to be December 31.

During the past few weeks, Adi’s phone system has collapsed several times due to the high demand.

Since Adi decided to give preferential treatment to those registering as a potential organ donor, tens of thousands of people have registered, raising the number of potential donors to over 600,000. Until last year, the rate of registration was among the lowest in the Western world.

The incentive to donate created by law in Israel is similar to the incentive created by LifeSharers in the United States and New Zealand.

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Marine saves Marine through directed organ donation

2011-08-23T10:27:00.000-05:00

According to an AP story in Stars and Stripes:

Nicknamed "Superman" because of his chiseled 6-foot-3 frame, Marine Lt. Patrick Wayland saved his most heroic act for last. He donated a kidney to a comrade he never met.

Wayland, a flight student at Pensacola Naval Air Station, died earlier this month after his heart stopped beating during water survival training. He was already an organ donor, but while on life support, his family decided they wanted to help a fellow Marine.

A doctor who treated the 24-year-old Wayland searched the Internet for "Marine needing transplant" and found a website for Sgt. Jacob "Jake" Chadwick, who was stationed on the other side of the country at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Lt. Wayland's family used a process called "directed donation." They directed the donation of Lt. Wayland's kidney to Sgt. Chadwick. Directed donation is the same process used by LifeSharers members to direct their donations to fellow LifeSharers members.

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Organ donation by default in Colorado?

2011-01-20T08:34:00.000-06:00

A bill introduced in the Colorado legislature would change the process for renewing driver's licenses and ID cards so applicants are assumed to be organ and tissue donors unless they initial a statement that says they want to opt out, according to an Associated Press story.

People who opt out of donating their organs when they die should also opt out of receiving an organ should they ever need one to live.

Everyone can offer to donate, no matter what their medical condition is. But our transplant system lets people take without giving. It’s no wonder there’s such a large organ shortage. About 10,000 Americans die every year because there aren't enough organs for everyone who needs one. And every year Americans bury or cremate 20,000 transplantable organs. That's 50% of the potential supply.

There is a simple way to put a big dent in the organ shortage – allocate donated organs first to people who have agreed to donate their own organs when they die.

Anyone who wants to donate their organs to others who have agreed to donate theirs can join LifeSharers. LifeSharers is a non-profit network of organ donors who agree to offer their organs first to other organ donors when they die. Membership is free at www.lifesharers.org or by calling 1-888-ORGAN88. There is no age limit, parents can enroll their minor children, and no one is excluded due to any pre-existing medical condition.

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Misinformation from UNOS after confessed killer gets organ transplant

2010-07-26T08:06:00.003-05:00

"A confessed Bronx wife-killer who destroyed his liver in a half-cocked suicide attempt blew past nearly 2,000 New Yorkers on the state's transplant list to get a new organ," reports the New York Post.

The story attempts to explain how this can happen:

Social factors -- such as wealth, fame, arrest or criminal records -- do not figure into the decision on whether to give someone an organ....

"The system is designed to save as many people as possible," said Anne Paschke, spokeswoman for the United Network of Organ Sharing, which is responsible for organ allocation in the United States.

Ms. Paschke's statement is clearly not correct. The organ allocation system is NOT designed to save as many people as possible. If UNOS wanted to save more lives, it would change its organ allocation rules to offer donated organs first to registered organ donors. This would create an incentive for non-donors to become donors. With more donors, more lives would be saved.

UNOS should have two transplant waiting lists: the "A" list for registered organ donors, and the "B" list for those who haven't agreed to donate. UNOS should offer all organs first to donors on the "A" list. Non-donors on the "B" list can have the leftovers, if there are any.

UNOS has the power to make this common-sense change. Instead, UNOS treats registered organ donors no better than it treats people who refuse to donate. Since UNOS is willfully blind to the organ donor status of potential organ recipients, about half of the organs transplanted in the United States are given to people who haven't agreed to donate their own organs when they die.

Americans bury or cremate about 20,000 transplantable organs every year. Most of this tremendous waste would be eliminated if UNOS put organ donors first. Few Americans would refuse to donate their organs after they died if they knew it would reduce their chances of getting a transplant should they need one to live.

In the mean time, if you want to donate your organs to other registered organ donors you can join LifeSharers at http://www.lifesharers.org/.

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The shameful need for live organ donors

2010-06-12T10:14:00.004-05:00

A man who agreed to donate part of his liver to help a sick relative died while undergoing the transplant procedure at Lahey Clinic near Boston two weeks ago, according to a report in the Boston Globe.

The generosity of live organ donors is spectacular. Imagine having a piece of your body cut out to save the life of a relative, a friend, or someone you don't even know.

It's shameful that America needs so many live organ donors. We wouldn't need so many of these incredibly brave people if Americans weren't burying or cremating 20,000 transplantable organs every year.

In the United States, about half of the people who can donate their organs after death do donate them. The other half don't. What an awful waste! Every transplantable kidney or liver that is buried or cremated means another person dies or another live donor goes under the knife.

Would people still refuse to donate their organs if affected their ability to receive an organ? Or would more people donate if it increased their chances of getting an organ if they needed one? These questions answer themselves.

The United Network for Organ Sharing, which manages the national transplant waiting list, moves live organ donors up the waiting list if they need a transplant later in life. This is a good thing to do. It's fair, and it increases the number of people who are willing to donate.

UNOS should do the same thing for people who agree to donate their organs after death. It would make the organ allocation system fairer. Currently, about half of the organs transplanted in the United States are given to people who haven't agreed to donate their own organs when they die. More importantly, giving organs first to registered organ donors would increase the number of donated organs. It would save more lives, and it would reduce the need for live organ donors.

UNOS has the ability to make this common-sense change to its organ allocation rules. They should make this change immediately. If they made this change today, they'd save thousands of lives next year, the year after that, and every year after that one.

Americans who want to donate their organs to other organ donors don't have to wait for UNOS to act. They can join LifeSharers. LifeSharers is a non-profit network of organ donors who agree to offer their organs first to other organ donors when they die. Membership is free at www.lifesharers.org or by calling 1-888-ORGAN88. There is no age limit, parents can enroll their minor children, and no one is excluded due to any pre-existing medical condition. LifeSharers has over 13,900 members, including members in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

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NY presumed consent proposal: all stick no carrot

2010-05-03T10:53:00.003-05:00

New York could be the first state that presumes everyone wants to donate their organs unless they specifically say otherwise, according to a story in the Washington Post. If a recently introduced bill becomes law, hospitals in New York will be able to assume you have given consent to organ donation unless you haved previously filled out an official form saying otherwise.

Only about 50% of adult Americans have signed up to donate their organs when they die. Supporters of presumed consent say it will increase the supply of transplantable organs. They say few people will opt out, since about 90% of adult Americans say they support organ donation.

Presumed consent is all stick and no carrot. If we're going to presume people are organ donors unless they opt out, we should also give people a reason to NOT opt out. Donated organs should be allocated first to those who haven't opted out. People who opt out of organ donation should go to the back of the transplant waiting list. The United Network for Organ Sharing, which manages the national organ allocation system, has the power to make this simple policy change. No legislative action is required.

Americans who want to donate their organs to other registered organ donors don't have to wait for UNOS to act. They can join LifeSharers, a non-profit network of organ donors who agree to offer their organs first to other organ donors when they die. Membership is free at http://www.lifesharers.org/ or by calling 1-888-ORGAN88. There is no age limit, parents can enroll their minor children, and no one is excluded due to any pre-existing medical condition.

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UK may move registered organ donors up the transplant waiting list

2010-04-20T11:08:00.002-05:00

How should organ donation rates be increased in the United Kingdom? The Nuffield Council on Bioethics in London is asking the public what they think about various options. Among the options presented is giving priority for transplants to people who sign up to donate their organs when they die.

Ian Cowie writes about possible solutions to the United Kingdom's organ shortage in the Telegraph:

...offering donors priority status in the event that they may need a transplant in future looks like a reasonable compromise which could ease the current problem. NHS reliance on public altruism has failed. When demand vastly exceeds supply it may be time to consider economics as well as ethics.

Adam Smith was among the first to notice that one motivation you can always rely on is self-interest. In his classic The Wealth of Nations he observed: “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.

Registered organ donors in the United States can get preferred access to donated organs by joining LifeSharers. Registered organ donors in New Zealand can do the same thing. In Israel, if you and your family members get preferred access to donated organs if you sign up to donate your organs after you die.

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New Yorkers find organ donation registration "off-putting"

2010-04-06T11:13:00.004-05:00

Only 13% of adults in the state of New York are registered organ donors, according to a story in the New York Times. Why is the registration rate so low? According to the story, it's because New Yorkers can't register on the internet and because they have to decide which organs and tissues they want to donate. Having to decide whether to donate your bone and connective tissue, heart with connective tissue, and pancreas with iliac vessels is "off-putting", according to the New York Times.

I wonder how many New York adults would find dying waiting for an organ transplant "off-putting". Probably a whole lot more than 13% of them.

LifeSharers has over 750 members in New York. New Yorkers (and everyone else in the United States) are welcome to join LifeSharers at www.lifesharers.org/enroll.aspx. Members get preferred access to the organs of other members, so they get a chance to help themselves while helping others.

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Organ shortage increase fueled by unwillingness to donate

2010-04-05T08:47:00.002-05:00

According to a new survey by Donate Life America 43% of people are undecided, reluctant or do not wish to have their organs and tissue donated after their deaths. Is this because Americans don't know there is an organ shortage? No. The survey also reports that 78% realize there are more people who need organ transplants in the U.S. than the number of donated organs available.

Meanwhile, the number of people who need transplants keeps growing. As of April 1, 2010, there were over 106,700 people on the national transplant waiting list. More than half of these people will die before they get a transplant, while Americans bury or cremate 20,000 transplantable organs every year.

Just about every single one of the 43% of Americans who aren't willing to register as organ donors would accept an organ transplant if they needed one to live. As long as we let non-donors jump to the front of the waiting list when they need transplants we'll always have an organ shortage.

There is a simple way to put a big dent in the organ shortage -- allocate donated organs first to people who have agreed to donate their own organs. UNOS, which manages the national organ allocation system, has the power to make this simple policy change. No legislative action is required.

Americans who want to donate their organs to other registered organ donors don't have to wait for UNOS to act. They can join LifeSharers, a non-profit network of organ donors who agree to offer their organs first to other organ donors when they die. Membership is free at www.lifesharers.org or by calling 1-888-ORGAN88. There is no age limit, parents can enroll their minor children, and no one is excluded due to any pre-existing medical condition.

Giving organs first to organ donors will save more lives by convincing more people to register as organ donors. It will also make the organ allocation system fairer. People who aren't willing to share the gift of life should go to the back of the waiting list as long as there is a shortage of organs.

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Transplantable kidneys infected with hepatitis C are being wasted

2010-04-02T09:58:00.004-05:00

Hundreds of transplantable kidneys from people who have hepatitis C are thrown away every year in the United States, according to a study published in the American Journal of Transplantation. Escience News reports on the study, as does US News & World Report.

Some transplant centers give kidneys from hepatitis C patients to other patients who have hepatitis C. Recipients of these kidneys have a slightly lower survival rates than do patients who receive infection-free kidneys. The difference in 1-year survival is 1%, and the difference in 3-year survival is 2%. But the wait for an infection-free kidney is over a year longer, and the risk of death during that extra year is 10% to 15%. This more than offsets the lower survival rates from infected kidneys.

This is further proof that everyone can sign up to donate their organs when they die. Surgeons are also transplanting organs from people who had cancer and HIV. This is why LifeSharers doesn't exclude anyone from joining. No one will know if your organs are transplantable until you die. The surgeons will figure it out when the time comes. If someone tells you that you can't donate your organs, they are mistaken.

If you haven't already done so, please join LifeSharers. It's free. You can save several lives. One of them might be your own, because your membership gives you preferred access to the organs of other members.

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Should organ allocation follow the "Golden Rule?"

2010-03-15T13:02:00.002-05:00

MSNBC.com is running a poll asking if people willing to donate their organs should get preferential treatment if they ever should need an organ.

The results so far:
Yes - 90%
No - 7%
I'm not sure - 3%

Click here to vote and see updated poll results. You can also post a comment and read other comments.

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Experts praise "organs for organ donors" law in Israel

2010-03-13T08:46:00.005-06:00

Israel recently enacted a law that gives organs first to registered organ donors. Jacob Lavee, director of the heart transplant unit at Israel's Sheba Medical Center, says the law "will rectify the unfairness of the situation where people who are unwilling to donate wait in the same line as those who are willing."

The same Associated Press story reports other positive reactions to the law:

Writing in the December issue of The Lancet, the British medical journal, Dr. Paolo Bruzzone of Sapienza University in Rome said... "giving holders of donor cards priority in organ allocation sounds more acceptable than the introduction of organ conscription or financial incentives for organ donation."
Luc Noel, coordinator of clinical procedures at the World Health Organization in Geneva, praised the Israeli law for its educational value and for introducing a "community spirit" to the field of organ donations. "The bottom line here is doing to others as you would like others to do to you and that is where the community has a role," he told The Associated Press.
Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, said the Israeli measure was ethically sound — he called it "reciprocal altruism" that would benefit society as a whole.

In the United States, registered organ donors can get preferred access to donated organs by joining LifeSharers.

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Need an organ? Maybe you should move!

2010-03-13T08:07:00.003-06:00

Geography plays a large role in allocating donated organs to patients in the United States. Under the allocation rules of the United Network for Organ Sharing, most organs are offered first to local patients. If no local patient needs an organ, it's then made available to patients elsewhere in the donor's geographic regions.

St. Louis University explains why this is important:

Recent studies have found that patients with similar diseases but living in different parts of the country had substantially different waiting times and waitlist mortality rates due to geographical differences in organ supply.

The resulting disparity can mean some patients will not have access to organ donations that could save their lives, says Krista Lentine, M.D., associate professor of internal medicine and lead researcher at Saint Louis University School of Medicine.

"The geographic regions were established prior to the availability of modern systems of organ preservation and without anticipation of the current unevenly distributed organ supply-demand ratios across the country," said Lentine.

Supporters of UNOS allocation rules say that only medical criteria should be used in allocating organs. But if geography was ever a "medical" criterion it isn't any more.

Most people think organs should be given first to the people who need them the most. It's a nice thought, but that's not how the system works. As long as UNOS is going to use non-medical factors in allocating organs, it should use "donor status" as one of them. UNOS already moves live organ donors up the transplant waiting list if they later need a transplant. UNOS should do the same for people who register to donate their organs upon their death.

UNOS should establish two transplant waiting lists: the "A" list for registered donors, and the "B" list for non-donors. All organs should be offered first to donors on the "A" list. Non-donors on the "B" list can have any leftovers. This would save thousands of lives every year by creating an incentive for non-donors to become donors.

Only about 50% of adult Americans are registered organ donors. Americans bury or cremate 20,000 transplantable organs every year. That wouldn't happen if UNOS put organ donors first.

Join LifeSharers if you'd like to donate your organs to other organ donors. Your membership will increase your chances of getting a transplant should you ever need one. It's free. It could save your life.

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EVERYONE can sign up to be an organ donor

2009-12-07T08:21:00.003-06:00

Kidneys with cancer tumors are now being transplanted by surgeons in the United States, according to BBC News.

These kidneys keep patients alive while they wait for healthy kidneys. The US surgeons say the technique offers a vital lifeline to patients with end-stage renal failure who could die waiting for a healthy donor organ.

Everyone can sign up to donate their organs when they die. Nobody should think they're too old or too sick to be an organ donor.

If you'd like to donate your organs to other organ donors, please join LifeSharers at http://www.lifesharers.org/. It's free. It could save your life.

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Transplanting kidneys from people who had kidney failure

2009-10-02T10:30:00.002-05:00

Kidneys recovered from deceased donors with acute kidney failure appear to work just as well as kidneys transplanted from deceased donors who do not develop kidney problems prior to organ donation, according to a new study by researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center:

"There is a critical shortage of donor organs and we are continually making efforts to expand the donor pool," said Robert J. Stratta, M.D., professor of surgery and director of transplantation at Wake Forest Baptist and senior investigator on the study. "While kidneys from deceased donors with ARF have been considered unusable in the past, our study shows they can work quite well. The function of the new kidney may be slow or delayed - and patients may have to continue dialysis for a week or two until the kidney is up and running - but that's really the only downside. Choosing to utilize these kidneys will greatly shorten the waiting time for people who are willing to accept a kidney from this kind of donor."

Nobody should think they're too sick (or too old) to be an organ donor. People who need transplants would rather live with imperfect organs than die waiting for perfect ones.

As transplant medicine continues to advance, surgeons will continue to transplant lots of organs once thought unusable. Transplanting kidneys from people who suffered acute kidney failure will expand the supply of kidneys by about 1,000 per year. It's a shame Americans continue to bury or cremate 10,000 transplantable kidneys every year.

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Hospitals honored for high organ donation rates

2009-10-01T08:20:00.004-05:00

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today presented awards to 428 of the nation’s hospitals for their success in increasing the number of organs available for transplantation, according to a news release from the Health Resources and Services Administration. These hospitals were awarded the Department’s Medal of Honor for Organ Donation for achieving and sustaining national goals for donation, including a donation rate of 75 percent or more of eligible donors at their facilities

Kudos to all of these hospitals for converting 75% of potential organ donors into actual donors.

The national conversion rate is about 50%, which means that 50% of the organs that could have saved lives were buried or cremated instead.

There is a simple way to reduce this terrible waste -- give donated organs first to people who have agreed to donate their own organs when they die.

Giving organs first to organ donors will convince more people to register as organ donors. It will also make the organ allocation system fairer. People who aren't willing to share the gift of life should go to the back of the waiting list as long as there is a shortage of organs.

Anyone who wants to donate their organs to others who have agreed to donate theirs can join LifeSharers. LifeSharers is a non-profit network of organ donors who agree to offer their organs first to other organ donors when they die. Membership is free at www.lifesharers.org or by calling 1-888-ORGAN88. There is no age limit, parents can enroll their minor children, and no one is excluded due to any pre-existing medical condition. LifeSharers has over 13,000 members, including members in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

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Opting In vs. Opting Out

2009-09-27T07:17:00.002-05:00

Professor Richard Thaler makes the case for an opt-out system of organ donation in today's New York Times. Under an opt-out system, everyone is assumed to be a willing organ donor unless they fill out a government form saying they don't want to donate.

Any opt-out system of organ donation should give organs first to those who don't opt out. Under our current opt-in system, organs should be given first to those who opt in.

About 50% of the organs transplanted in America go to people who haven't agreed to donate their own organs when they die. It's no wonder there is such a large organ shortage.

The United Network for Organ Sharing, which runs the national organ allocation system, has the power to put registered organ donors first. Sadly, it has not chosen to make this common-sense change. Americans who want to donate their organs to other organ donors don't have to wait for UNOS to act. They can join LifeSharers, a national non-profit network of organ donors who agree to offer their organs first to other organ donors when they die. Membership is free at http://www.lifesharers.org/ or by calling 1-888-ORGAN88. There is no age limit, parents can enroll their minor children, and no one is excluded due to any pre-existing medical condition.

Giving organs first to organ donors will convince more people to register as organ donors. It will also make the organ allocation system fairer. People who aren't willing to share the gift of life should go to the back of the waiting list as long as there is a shortage of organs.

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Organ donation is a complex personal decision?

2009-08-31T11:45:00.004-05:00

A story in the Dayton Daily News about some of the reasons people don't sign up to be organ donors reports this:

Psychologists and pollsters who have studied the issue say choosing whether to be an organ donor is a complex personal decision.

Is choosing whether to be an organ recipient a complex personal decision? No, it isn't. Just about every single person who is unwilling to be an organ donor would be happy to be the recipient of a donated organ if they needed a transplant to live.

About 50% of the organs transplanted in the United States go to people who haven't agreed to donate their own organs when they die. That's not fair, and it's one of the biggest reasons there is such a large shortage of transplantable organs in the United States.

As a nation, we bury or cremate 20,000 transplantable organs every year. As long as we keep giving organs to non-donors this terrible waste will continue.

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Woman gets Army hero's heart through directed donation

2009-08-11T07:54:00.004-05:00

Another case of directed donation is in the news. Directed donation is the process that LifeSharers members use to offer their organs to other LifeSharers members. Famous singer Natalie Cole got a kidney transplant through directed donation several weeks ago.

Corporal Benjamin Kopp, an Army Ranger, died recently at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington as the result of wounds sustained in Afghanistan. Corporal Kopp's mother, Jill Stephenson, donated his heart to a family friend. A story in the Washington Post provides more information:

The doctors at Walter Reed raised the possibility of organ donation with Stephenson, but she said there was never much question that it would happen. Kopp had talked about it and indicated his preference both on his driver's license and in his living will with the Rangers. And organ donation wasn't something new for the family.

"I lost a brother 27 years ago. He was only 11, and our family donated his organs," Stephenson said. "And I had that sitting in my heart all these years."

On July 18, Stephenson posted an online journal entry telling family and friends about Kopp's passing and said that they were going to donate his organs.

Maria Burud, Stephenson's first cousin in Chicago, had been following Kopp's condition on the Web site. What occurred next was happenstance.

Burud and Meikle are friends who had worked together in the 1980s. Burud knew that Meikle needed a heart transplant, and Stephenson happened to see her cousin's message in time.

Stephenson had been told that the family could designate an organ recipient if the person was eligible for a transplant. At the time, Stephenson didn't think she knew anyone on the eligibility list.

"It's a pretty unusual coincidence that somebody knows somebody who needs a heart," said Dr. Michael Shapiro, chair of the Organ Transplantation Network/United Network for Organ Sharing ethics committee.

Meikle knew it might not work out, that Kopp's heart might not be a match. "It's a million-to-one shot," she said. It had taken her seven months to get on the eligibility list because she needed to build up a tolerance for heparin, a drug used to prevent blood clots during heart surgery. But she got a call later that day from Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
In the early hours of July 20 -- two days after Kopp died -- Meikle had her transplant surgery at Northwestern. She is resting at home in Winnetka, a Chicago suburb.

Directed donation is a wonderful thing. As practiced by LifeSharers members, it is legal under federal law and under the laws of all 50 states.

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The economics of LifeSharers

2009-08-05T09:56:00.002-05:00

Professor Alex Tabarrok explains the economic theory behind LifeSharers in article in the Library of Economics and Liberty:

"The economics of common resources provides another perspective on the shortage of organs. Resources owned in common tend to be under-supplied and over-utilized. No one wants to pay to restock a lake, for example, when the benefits of restocking flow to everyone regardless of whether or not they helped to pay for the restocking. As a result, open fisheries are almost always driven to depletion. The solution is to close the fishery to those who do not help to restock the lake.

UNOS considers organs to be a "national resource," owned in common. The result, as in other areas, is a tragedy of the commons. Everyone wants to fish in the organ pool but no one has a direct incentive to "restock the lake" by signing their organ donor card. As with fishing lakes, a solution to this problem is to close the organ pool to non-donors.

Consider a no-give, no-take policy for organs. Under this system in order to receive an organ you must have previously signed your organ donor card. Under no-give, no-take, signing your organ donor card can be thought of as joining a club, the club of people who have agreed to share their organs. Or one can think of signing the organ donor card as the price that you pay for organ insurance.

An advantage of the no-give, no take policy is that it satisfies most people's moral intuitions. Many people find the idea of paying for organs distasteful but nevertheless are comfortable with the morality of reciprocity, those who are willing to give should be the first to receive.

A variant of no-give, no-take can be implemented quite easily within the current system by giving those who have previously signed their organ donor cards extra points that would advance them on the queue. In fact, a similar program is already in place. People who have previously been live organ-donors are given extra-points should their one remaining kidney fail them. No-give, no-take simply extends this idea from actual donors to potential donors.

Something like no-give, no-take is currently being implemented privately. LifeSharers.com is an "organ club." Anyone can join. Members agree that if their organs should become available they will go first to a fellow LifeSharers member. (If everyone joins LifeSharers, it becomes equivalent to no-give, no-take.)

Although reciprocity proposals like no-give, no-take have moral advantages it is important to remember that their primary purpose is to increase the incentive to donate and therefore to increase the total number of organs available."

Alexander Tabarrok is the Bartley J. Madden Chair in Economics at the Mercatus Center, George Mason University, and Director of Research, The Independent Institute. He writes regularly at www.MarginalRevolution.com.

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Everyone can be an organ donor

2009-07-25T07:13:00.002-05:00

"It turns out that most people who've had cancer can donate both blood and organs," writes Bob Riter of the Cancer Resource Center of the Finger Lakes in the Ithaca Journal:

I called the United Network for Organ Sharing, the national organization that coordinates organ donations, and learned that they encourage everyone, even sick people, to check that they are organ donors. Upon death, they'll do a variety of tests to be sure the organs are usable. Cancer does not necessarily prevent a person's organs from being used to help someone else. It's the transplant team's job to sort out what they can use and what they can't.

Nobody should think they're too sick, or too old, to donate their organs when they die. If you needed an organ, you'd rather live with an imperfect organ than die waiting for a perfect one.

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