The donation = debate

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The donation debate

Group says people shouldn't be able to get organs unless they first = agree to=20 donate their own

March 8, 2007

BY SHABINA S. = KHATRI

FREE PRESS STAFF = WRITER

What's growing inside Sonya Cook is a miracle of life.

Anchored within the abdomen of the 38-year-old African-American woman = from=20 Detroit are two tiny kidneys from a Chinese toddler, both growing to = adapt to=20 their new adult host. The organs, donated by the American adoptive = parents of=20 the 2-year-old girl who died from the flu, have kept her alive and off = dialysis=20 for the past two years.

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They have also forever changed her outlook = on life --=20 and organ donation.

"Before I lost my kidney function, I did not believe in transplants," = said=20 the single mother, who went on dialysis five years ago. Now, she asks: = "What if=20 you need an organ? Are you willing at the time of death to give your=20 organs?"

A Nashville, Tenn.-based organization called LifeSharers says people = like=20 Cook shouldn't be able to get organs unless they first agree to donate = their=20 own. That belief is at the heart of a debate about how to effectively = jump-start=20 Americans' desire to donate their organs and, in the process, prevent = thousands=20 of deaths each year.

LifeSharers, which says its national membership is on the rise, says = it is=20 helping to solve a growing problem, but critics are skeptical about the = group's=20 effectiveness -- and contend that its organs-for-donors policy isn't=20 ethical.

"Over 6,000 people a year die waiting for transplants while neighbors = are=20 burying or cremating 20,000 organs a year," said Dave Undis, LifeSharers = founder. "If you had to be an organ donor to be eligible for a = transplant, this=20 wouldn't be happening."

Statements vs. intentions

What's happening now is that many Americans' words don't match their=20 intentions. According to a 2005 Gallup poll, 95% of Americans said they = support=20 organ donation, but only 78% of those surveyed said they would actually = donate=20 their organs.

And, according to the poll, the number of organ donors is even = scarcer among=20 minorities. While nearly three in five white people indicated they were = very=20 likely to donate their organs, two-fifths of Latinos and only about = one-third of=20 blacks or Asians indicated that.

Meanwhile, demand for organs continues to grow faster than supply. = Each week,=20 the U.S. government says, more than a hundred Americans who need = transplants die=20 before receiving them. There are more than 95,000 people on a national = waiting=20 list, according to the United Network for Organ Shortage.

That's where LifeSharers comes in. Undis said the group isn't the = perfect=20 solution, but it's one way to help tackle the shortage. Since it started = in=20 2002, membership in LifeSharers has grown to more than 8,000.

The group operates like this: Members agree to donate their organs = upon their=20 death. They also agree to offer their organs first to other suitable = LifeSharers=20 members before making them available to others on the national = transplant=20 waiting list.

Typically, transplant recipients are matched to organs by factors = like need,=20 health, age and geography. But under the law, people can specify that = family and=20 friends be given priority for their organs. For members of LifeSharers, = the=20 circle of preferred friends from which doctors can choose a recipient = consists=20 of thousands of other LifeSharers.

Undis said LifeSharers does not participate in the matching process, = but the=20 group encourages members in need of organs to register with the national = waiting=20 list. If a LifeSharer member died in a way that made donating their = organs=20 possible, Undis said a hospital would be able to search for other = LifeSharers on=20 the national list.

So far, no one in LifeSharers -- which currently has 47 members on = the=20 national transplant waiting list -- has died so no organs have become = available=20 through the program. But Undis said he anticipates membership will = skyrocket=20 once people see the network in action.

"We're offering what I think is a really good trade -- you agree to = donate=20 your organs when you die, and, in exchange, you increase your chance of = getting=20 a transplant when you live," Undis said. "Giving an organ transplant to = someone=20 who refuses to be an organ donor is like giving the Powerball jackpot to = someone=20 who didn't buy a ticket. You got to be in it to win it, right?"

A doctor's view

The idea that people would only give to other donors doesn't sit well = with=20 Dr. Jeff Punch, chief of the division of transplantation at the = University of=20 Michigan Medical Center.

Punch said that he'd want an organ "to go to who we collectively as a = transplant community would determine is the person with the most need," = adding=20 that an alternative system like LifeSharers sounds rational, but would = be "very=20 inefficient and not very fair to the vast majority of people."

Gift of Life Michigan, the state's largest organ recovery = organization, also=20 doesn't advocate the organs-for-donors approach. "There is no magic = bullet for=20 solving the shortage of donated organs," spokeswoman Jennifer Tislerics=20 said.

The group and its national affiliate instead advocate more inclusive=20 measures, including action taken earlier this year by the Michigan = Secretary of=20 State's Office, which launched an online campaign to attract donors. The = effort=20 has paid off: since January, about 29,000 Michigan residents have signed = up to=20 be organ donors.

Still, the need in Michigan for organ donors remains high. More than = 3,100=20 Michiganders are waiting for organs. Last year, more than 160 died = before=20 receiving a transplant, and 95 were removed from the list after becoming = too=20 sick to survive surgery.

The latter is constantly on the mind of 59-year-old Fenton resident = Ronald=20 Jedrzejas, who has been waiting for a kidney for four years.

"There's always the threat in the back of my mind that one of these = days I'm=20 going to come down with an illness that will disqualify me for a = transplant,"=20 said Jedrzejas, who lost his kidneys to cancer in 1999. "I would be in = very=20 tough emotional health if that happened."

Though he had signed up to be an organ donor years before needing a=20 transplant, Jedrzejas said he worries that LifeSharers would exclude = those who=20 don't have healthy organs to donate.

"Lots of people with high blood pressure, liver damage, kidney damage = --=20 there's not much left to donate," said Jedrzejas, who adds that he = wouldn't=20 totally rule out joining LifeSharers. "That doesn't mean they don't need = a=20 kidney as bad as I do."

Why people don't donate

There are many reasons people don't donate, including cultural, = religious and=20 moral beliefs. Cook, the Detroit mother, said that for her, it was the = belief=20 among some African Americans that organ donors' bodies will not be = presentable=20 for funerals.

Some believe they are too old to donate, and others, like Martin = Djelaj of=20 Shelby Township, worry about violating the tenets of their faith.

"That was my No. 1 concern," said the 24-year-old real estate = investor who is=20 Catholic. "But I came to find out that it's OK."

Last month, Djelaj was upgraded to preferred status with LifeSharers, = which=20 requires members to wait six months before becoming eligible for an = organ=20 transplant as a way to encourage people to join while they're = healthy.

"I think it's a very fair idea," Djelaj said. "There are so many = people who=20 want an organ but aren't willing to share one."

Even though Cook used to be one of them, she doesn't believe in the=20 LifeSharers approach.

"It should go by greatest need and match," said Cook, who = acknowledges that=20 if her donor's parents had been members of LifeSharers, she may not have = gotten=20 her transplant.

Cook is now a volunteer at Gift of Life Michigan and has signed up = her=20 4-year-old daughter as an organ donor. She's grateful for the second = chance at=20 life.

"Not for one day will I ever say that I hate that this happened to = me," she=20 said.

Contact SHABINA S. KHATRI at 586-469-8087 or skhatri@freepress.com.

<= !-- story chat -->

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gosbuxgo

Mark: "The American Government was=20 instituted by the people with certain limitations placed upon it. The = Government=20 was not created with ownership of our bodies. We never gave the = government=20 ownership of our bodies, and we are not property of the government. = Those who=20 place limits on the selling of body parts are claiming ownership of = something=20 they do not own. Just as a thief would."

Excellent, excellent = post. Hope=20 to hear more from you in other forums in the future.

Freedom!=20

Mike A. Smith

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2007 3:47 = pm

Mark

The American Government was instituted = by the=20 people with certain limitations placed upon it.

The Government = was not=20 created with ownership of our bodies. We never gave the government = ownership of=20 our bodies, and we are not property of the government.

Those who = place=20 limits on the selling of body parts are claiming ownership of something = they do=20 not own. Just as a thief would.

There should be no limits on the = selling=20 of body parts until someone can point to where in the Constitution the=20 government was given ownership of our bodies.

Those who think = the=20 government owns our bodies are sick evil people who can not be trusted, = and=20 should immediately go live in some Communist / Socialist part of the = world,=20 where people have no right to own anything, much less their=20 bodies.

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2007 3:35 pm

Detroiter

Absolutely RIGHT. American's are = always so=20 quick to be on the "take"... and seldom give.......

Posted: = Thu Mar=20 08, 2007 2:28 pm

BreathinSteven

Conceptually, Lifesharers has = a valid=20 point -- if you're not willing to sign your donor card and declare that = you are=20 willing to donate at the time of your death, why should you be allowed = to=20 receive an organ... Their take is that organs should be allocated first = to=20 people who have stated their intent to donate.

Their allocation = list=20 directs organs from a donor on their list, where possible, to a = recipient on=20 their list... Allocation on their list is based on rank on the UNOS list = within=20 their list -- and if allocation on their list is not possible, the organ = is=20 allocated based on UNOS allocation. UNOS and every state allows directed = donation and this is simply a form of directed donation. There is a lot = of=20 controversy surrounding the idea that the members on this list are = effectively=20 "cutting in line" which can be discussed ad nauseum... The fact right = now is=20 that there are less than 10,000 people on the lifesharers list and an = organ has=20 never been placed within the lifesharers list...

What bothers me = is=20 their primary concept -- that if you do not specifically declare your = intent to=20 donate, you do not deserve to receive... I've gathered information from = a number=20 of OPOs -- Nearly half of people and families committing to organ = donation fall=20 into a category where the donor did NOT state their intent -- they did = NOT sign=20 a donor card -- they did NOT sign their license saying they wanted to = donate=20 their organs -- they did NOT sign up on their state's donor or first = person=20 consent registry. The family was approached at their time of greatest = grief and=20 they agreed to help others... At the most painful moment in their lives, = they=20 agreed to donate their loved one's organs to save other's lives... =

It's=20 a large percentage of people who do not commit in advance, for whatever=20 reason... What lifesharers is telling you and me and them and their = families is=20 that donor and that donor family would not merit -- would not deserve to = have=20 their life saved. I think it's an incredible slap in the face to a LARGE = percentage of donor families.

In my heart, I think that this=20 organization may have been started with good intention -- but I find = their=20 declarations at to who does, and who does not deserve an organ = disturbing and=20 hypocritical... People are human (at least most are) and delaying or = denying a=20 decision like this seems to be natural -- but when the time comes where = that=20 decision is forced, many struggling families make the good decision --=20 lifesharers says they deserve no consideration.

Posted: Thu = Mar 08,=20 2007 2:09 pm

D City Dave

you miss a valuable point in that = Lefesharers donate organs regardless of who gets the organs. Although = priority=20 goes to other members of the group, if no such members are available, = the organs=20 are still donated to whoever might qualify. It ethically and morally = encourages=20 organ donations.

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2007 1:40 pm

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