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Monday, August 19, 2002 Press Release SOURCE: LifeSharers Professor Lloyd Cohen Named Advisor to LifeSharersGeorge Mason University Law Professor to Help Attack Deadly Shortage of Organs NASHVILLE, Tenn. – August 19, 2002 – Lloyd R. Cohen, professor at the George Mason University School of Law, has agreed to serve as an advisor to LifeSharers. LifeSharers is a non-profit network of organ and tissue donors. It was launched this year to help alleviate the shortage of human organs and tissue needed for transplant operations. That shortage kills over 6,000 Americans every year. "It is a moral scandal that vital human organs that could preserve life and restore health are instead being fed to worms,” says Professor Cohen, a world-renowned expert on solving the shortage of transplant organs. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles on the subject, and has appeared on television and radio programs in Europe, Australia and America. “Misguided federal statutes that forbid the free exchange of organs are the main cause of the organ shortage,” he adds. According to David J. Undis, Executive Director of LifeSharers, “Economists agree that a free market in human organs would end the shortage and save thousands of lives a year. Until the organ market is decriminalized, LifeSharers is the best alternative.” LifeSharers agree to donate their organs and tissue when they die, but only to other members of the LifeSharers network (unless no member is a suitable match). By giving other members preferred access to their organs, LifeSharers members reward organ donors and create an incentive for others to become donors. There has been a shortage of organs ever since the first transplant operations and the shortage is getting worse every year. According to statistics compiled by the United Network for Organ Sharing, almost 85,000 Americans are now on a waiting list for an organ transplant, and another name gets added to the list about every 14 minutes. About half the people on the waiting list will die before they receive an organ. Somebody on the waiting list dies about every two hours. “By giving people an incentive to become organ donors, LifeSharers offers hope to those otherwise doomed by our government to die while waiting for a life-saving organ transplant operation,” says Professor Cohen, “and I’m pleased to lend them my support.” “With Professor Cohen’s help, LifeSharers will be able to attract members and reduce the organ shortage faster,” adds Mr. Undis. LifeSharers membership is free and open to all at http://www.lifesharers.org/. ABOUT LLOYD COHEN Lloyd R. Cohen is Professor of Law at the George Mason University School of Law. He has published scholarship on a variety of applications of economics to law, including a market in transplant organs, marriage and divorce, wrongful death, tender offers, and free riders and holdouts. Before joining the faculty of George Mason in 1993, he taught law at Chicago-Kent College of Law and was a John M. Olin Research Fellow at the University of Chicago. Professor Cohen has served as a special counsel to the U.S. International Trade Commission and as a law clerk to Judge Gerald B. Tjoflat of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Before attending law school, he was an economics professor. Professor Cohen earned his B.A. from Harpur College (1968); M.A. (1973) and Ph.D. (1976) from the State University of New York, Binghamton; and J.D. from Emory University (1983). Professor Cohen teaches Trusts and Estates, as well as several courses in applied economics. About LifeSharers LifeSharers is a non-profit network of organ and tissue donors. Members agree to donate their organs when they die. They direct their donation to other members of the LifeSharers network, unless no member is a suitable match. By directing their gifts in this way, LifeSharers members create an incentive for others to donate their organs. LifeSharers was launched on May 22, 2002. The LifeSharers web site is at http://www.lifesharers.org/. Contact:
Click here to download and print a copy of this press release. Click here to join the distribution list for LifeSharers press releases. |
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