Here's something I have never understood, about organ donation...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

Why on earth does your family have to agree to allow your organs to be donated, when you've already indicated on your driver's license, that you want to do it?

I have never understood this.

And many times families have not allowed the donation to happen, against the donor's wishes...

It just burns me up.

Anyone know why the family can contravene the donor's wishes?

I'd sure like to know...

:shrug:

[Orrex]

1. Your license is meant to indicate your wishes, in case you haven't discussed it with your family

In itself, it's not a "help yourself" sign.

But you're right--it's infuriating when a family steps in to prevent the deceased's organs from being used to others' benefit, especially when the deceased has indicated his or her wishes on the matter.



PS. I've got dibs on your pancreas.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. Well, I have discussed this with my family...

So...

And I still need my pancreas, TYVM!

:P

[Orrex]

7. Killjoy.

:mad:

[ZombieHorde]

18. That's why god gave us teeth.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. Only reason I can think of

is if you have been diagnosed with a disease that would make it dangerous to donate your organs and you haven't had a chance to change your license. After my husband was diagnosed with Hepititus C, he went in to get his organ donation status changed, and they gave him a hard time until he explained why. But if something had happened to him in the week before he was able to get this done, I would have felt duty bound to let folks know why they shouldn't harvest his organs.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. Now that's a scenario that makes sense.

I haven't heard of that happening, but I'm sure it does...

Most of the time, what I hear is that families can't bear the idea of the loved one losing parts to someone else...

As if that person still needed them, for crying out loud!

Thanks for your input.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

9. I still have the organ donation on my license

and hubby knows I wish to donate if any of my organs can help someone else.

[crikkett]

8. "they gave him a hard time until he explained why"

Now that's wrong.

My family fears that 'they' will not work as hard to save your life, if you're an organ donor.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

10. I used to be a critical care nurse...

And I helped with patients who were going to become organ donors...

We NEVER held back on care. NEVER. We were not trying to increase the numbers of donors.

These patients had to be declared brain dead several times before any harvesting could be done.

It had to be done carefully and legally and ethically.

This is not like a scenario out of "Coma."

I hope this will help dispel any fears.

[crikkett]

27. thanks for this note, and thanks for your service

I wish you well.
:hi:

[cabluedem]

44. Not donating my organs until we have a UHC plan. nt

[SoCalDem]

26. and

once you are unconscious or deceased, YOU cease to be "in charge" of pretty much anything..

Many times, religious preferences of the family take a higher place than the wishes of the departed/soon to depart.

If your family's religious beliefs require burial of an intact body, even if you were of a different belief system, theirs will probably prevail.

Plus, this is all happening in a truncated timeframe. Organs are only viable for just so long, and the family is probably quite upset, so a hospital liaison organ-procurement rep has a very hard job to do, and some families are not able to decide in time.

My best friend donated her 23 yr old son's organs when he was killed in a car accident. The hospital kept him "alive" for 6 days, and gently guided her, and yet until the last day, she still had hopes that he would survive..(even though we all knew he was brain-dead, and had the paramedics arrived a few minutes later, they could not have "saved" him at all.

She did the hard thing, and donated, but I will never forget how hard it was for her, and understood why she did not want to meet the recipients. Some people need to, but she refused.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

3. How often do families stop a (potential) donor's wishes being honored?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. I have no idea.

I've not seen any data on this.

Good question, still...

[K Gardner]

29. Its rare, but it does happen. The concept is predicated on more than one legal and social

construct, and states are still working to see that donor's wishes are binding. One of the best articles on the subject, from a medicolegal standpoint, is at the link below.

http://medgenmed.medscape.com/viewarticle/497908_print

(highlights)

The Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (UAGA) grants any competent adult the legal right to designate whether he or she wishes to donate his or her organs for transplantation after death. However, contextual issues may interfere with organ donation by individuals who want to be organ donors.

A number of factors may influence physicians and/or organ procurement agencies to allow a family's wishes to override a patient's legal right to be a organ donor. The dissonance produced by family refusal and the potential generation of conflict between family and physician (and possibly lawsuits) could obviously affect decision-making by the physician. In some instances, significant controversy and adverse publicity could result if the decedent's family were offended and sought legal recourse, or complained to the local news media. Threats of events of this nature could make those in the medical profession hesitant to defy a family's opinion despite the patient's stated wishes.

It could also be argued that agencies coordinating organ transplantation have a right to decline the organs offered by the deceased patient, and this issue could contribute to the refusal of a potential donation. If agency personnel believed that the negative impact of accepting an organ under controversial circumstances would outweigh the value of the organ itself, they could logically decide to decline the offer. For example, accepting an organ surrounded by controversy and unfavorable publicity might decrease the possibility of future donations. Consideration of public opinion and similar factors might create an ethical dilemma for the agency and put them in a position of weighing the short-term benefits of accepting donation from a single donor versus the long-term damages caused by adverse repercussions related to the donation

[Gwendolyn]

11. When you've been deemed brain dead...

... the responsibility for your body is given to next of kin. They are the ones who decide if you remain on life support or not.(Remember Terri Schiavo?)

Even if you've been in some terrible accident and are in a coma, it's your next of kin who must sign the forms agreeing to medical intervention such as surgery.

It's the same with organ donation. Even if you've indicated that you wish to donate, your next of kin is the one making the decision. That's why every organ donation site makes a huge big deal of discussing the decision with loved ones. That way, in the event of tragedy, their grief won't cause them to over ride your wishes.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

12. Yup, I understand.

But this doesn't answer my basic question: Why do they have the last word?

If you've already told the authorities what you want done, then why does your family have the last word?

I don't think the family should have the right to over-ride your express wishes.

I really don't.

And you bet I remember Terri Schiavo! That was a mess of the first order.

[Gwendolyn]

13. I think it was just something that was written into the law...

which gave families that right. But it does look like some states are implementing Organ Gifting Acts designed to keep families from obstructing the individual's wishes.

I believe those official registries are relatively new though, so it'll take a bit of time before everyone's on the same page.

Yeah the Terri Schiavo debacle was horrible! Your question makes me wonder where we're at with life support too. I guess you have to have some kind of living will in place to make sure people don't keep you alive when you no longer wish to be?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

15. What you really need, for end of life issues, is the thing called

The Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care. This is a legal document, totally binding, that states what you want done at the end of your life.

The living will, I believe, does not have the same legal force that the Durable Power of Atty does.

I'm glad to hear about the Organ Gifting Acts. I hope these will be in place before too much longer. The whole process needs to be straightened out so that the donor's wishes are followed.

Thanks for your input!

[Ilsa]

14. I think the organizations such as hospital and tissue banks realize

that people are feeling very emotional and they don't want to do anything to increase their emotional pain, and then get sued for being unsympathetic.

In the fictional world of TV and movies, you may hear doctors or hospital staff approaching loved ones of the nearly deceased. Where I live, no one except the blood/tissue/organ bank does it. They have special training and have the best success with helping families come to terms with honoring donation wishes of the deceased with low risk of lawsuit later.

[Statistical]

16. Your right. There is a specific protocol. My brother was one of those organ bank workers (n/t)

[CaliforniaPeggy]

17. I believe you're right about who approaches the family...

The tissue/blood/organ bank people normally do this, since, as you say, they have the special training needed at this crucial and emotional time.

But I do feel, very strongly, that the family should not be able to derail the donor's wishes regarding the disposal.

[Ilsa]

31. ITA. They shouldn't be able to override the donor's wishes. nt

[blue neen]

19. That's a really good question...I wish I knew the answer.

In the same vein, my mom passed away this year. She had always told me that she wanted to be cremated. That is not what happened. My step-father made the arrangements, and she had a traditional burial. Cremation goes against his religious teachings (it did not go against hers). Are there some religions that don't believe in organ donation?

I guess that my step-father is the one left here on earth who has to deal with her death in the personal way (along with the rest of us). It is a comfort to him to go visit Mom's grave and "talk" to her.

I don't know what would have happened if my siblings and I had pushed the cremation issue! Family matters could have gotten really ugly...

:hi:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

20. There are religions that don't approve of organ donation, I think...

I'm not sure on this one, though...

I'm sorry about your mom.

I wish your step-father had followed her wishes...

:hug:

[MarianJack]

21. My Mother Signed a form to Donate her body to a Medical School...

...in 1991. When she died in 2006 there was a battle between my idiot sister and I over honoring her wishes. Fortunately I prevailed because the document was legal and my mother had made her wishes known far and wide. Nobody sided with her so she went back home and hasn't spoken to anybody since. No great loss.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

22. That's the ticket!

Your mother's wishes took precedence over what anybody else wanted. PERIOD.

Too bad about your sister...

Hope she's enjoying her self-imposed solitude.

[MarianJack]

23. My Mother's wishes were honored...

...and that's what is important.

My aunt, who is the last survivor of my mom's family of 12 siblings, has never forgiven me for there being no traditional family. My idiot sister thinkss that the way to deal with relatives who piss her off is to not speak to them for a decade.

The result is that that they are both missing out on a remarkable little boy in the person of my 8 year old son. As for myself, I don't want to deal with either of their childishness.

I've taken my wife's family as my own. In the Movie "Nicholas Nickleby" from about 3 years ago, Nathan Lane has a line close to the end that was not in the book, but I'm sure Dickens would approve. "Family is not only those whth whom you share your blood, but for whom you'ld shed your blood". When my son had his First Holy Communion/Confirmation last August, most of my wife's family came from PA to Maine for the event. None of my relatives even acknowledged it, so piss on them.

Sorry for the rant.

PEACE!

[happygoluckytoyou]

24. My family is okay with my donating my LEFT NUT if Bush will leave office early!!!

[yorgatron]

25. if anyone wants to donate an organ, call me first,

but only if it's a Hammond...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

32. LOL! That won't be necessary! He'll be gone soon!

[Libertyfirst]

36. I nwould give my right one. n/t

[aikoaiko]

28. I told my wife to give away any body parts that are wanted so that there is less of me to burn up

..and ask for a discount on account that there is less of me.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

33. I don't think it works that way!

Nice try, though!

[aikoaiko]

35. I know, but I'm a cheap bastard and hate how much funeral services cost.

I still hope my family haggles. 10% less body parts = 10% discount.

[K Gardner]

30. Tried to answer in post #29 above, CaliforniaPeggy - excellent question !

[CaliforniaPeggy]

34. Yours is an excellent answer, and I thank you for it!

It is a complex issue, and one that has always puzzled me.

Thanks for your contributions to my thread!

[WCIL]

37. I wish I knew

When my sister died suddenly at 35, her husband (who she had known for less than a year), got to decide about organ donation, even though we had known for years that she wanted to donate her organs and she had signed her driver's license. He would not hear of it, and his reason was that he didn't want her "cut up". It would have helped the rest of us, especially our parents, to know that her death had helped someone, and his decision not to allow organ donation really drove a wedge between us all.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

39. I am so sorry for your loss...

And the fact that your brother-in-law acted in opposition to her wishes, as well as your own, is exactly the reason that led me to post this question tonight...

I hope that your grief over your loss will lessen with time, and with the good memories you have of her...

That which is remembered, lives...


:hug:

[Skittles]

38. I don't understand this either

it's crap

[CaliforniaPeggy]

40. My dear Skittles...

It is indeed crap.

[Skittles]

43. hey I got my 30 gallon platelet pin from Carter BloodCare

WOOOO! Counting my time in the military and Austin, it's more like 50 gallons :D

[CaliforniaPeggy]

45. Good for you!

Biggo congrats!

I haven't donated in months...

Need to get these suspicious spots off my face...

You are a donating machine, yes INDEED

:yourock:

[Book Lover]

41. I think it is the flip side of being able to indicate donation for the deceased when

the deceased has not indicated a desire one way or the other. I wonder, if I explicitly indicate that I do not want to be harvested, can my family overrule that and let the transplant team part me out against my wishes? (That's rhetorical, I am not asking you if you know!) :-)


on edit: found this while poking around

"Even when a patient has a signed organ donation card, the OPO oftenseeks family permission to proceed with donation. The Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (1968, revised 1987) established that a signed organ donation card is sufficient to proceed with donation, and it has been confirmed recently that such documents function legally as advance directives. In the UnitedStates, however, it is customary for the OPO to request permission from the next-of-kin due to fear of litigation.

Recently, several states have passed legislation establishing “first-person consent” whereby the family cannot override an individual’s documented desire to be an organ donor. Some states have established first-person consent registries for people interested in being deceased organ donors. This is based on the strong belief that the donor’s wishes should be adhered to. It is not dissimilar to a last will and testament that disposes of our personal property and assets after we die. Each year more states are passing first-person consent laws that are strongly supported by the OPOs and the transplant community."

more at link: http://virtualmentor.ama-assn.org/2005/09/ccas2-0509.html

[CaliforniaPeggy]

42. That's very interesting...

Seems like our fear of litigation can cause no end of trouble.

I am very glad to see that the state legislatures are passing "first-person consent" laws. It's high time!

Thanks for your input!