THE TRUTH ABOUT DONATION

Despite numerous initiatives in law, technology, and education, the donor shortage remains an unresolved public health crisis. The scarcity of donors is, for the most part, caused by misinformation. Please read the following Questions and Answers and help dispel some of the myths surrounding organ and tissue donation and transplantation.

DONATION FACTS

Q: Who can donate?

A: People who die of brain death are eligible to become organ donors. Brain death usually results from accidents, strokes, or aneurysms. Most people will have the option of becoming a tissue donor after death. All donors must be free of HIV, Hepatitis, and Syphillis.

Q: How do I become a donor?

A: There are several ways to become a donor. First, you have the option of putting the donor designation on your driver's license or Nevada State ID card. This applies to becoming an organ donor only. The consent is for heart, lungs, liver, pancreas, kidneys, and intestines.

The next way to become a donor is just as easy, without a trip to the DMV. You can download the state registry form (click here) and either mail it or fax it back to the Nevada Donor Network. On the state registry form, you can choose to donate all organs and all tissues, or specify which organs and tissues you would like to donate. Tissues include corneas, bone, skin, heart valves, tendons, blood and blood vessels.

One of the best ways to communicate your wish to donate is to speak to your family. When a person is eligible to donate, the family is approached for donation if the person is not a registered donor. Nevada is a first person consent state, so family permission is not necessary for registered donors. Please speak to your family about becoming a donor. You might save lives one day.

Q: What can be donated?

A: Organs that can be donated include the heart, lungs, liver, pancreas, small intestine, and kidneys. One organ donor can save up to 8 lives.

Tissues that can be donated include corneas, skin, bone, heart valves, connective tissues, tendons, blood and blood vessels. One tissue donor can aid over 50 recipients. Donated skin is especially beneficial to burn victims.

Q: Will the doctors rush my death if I am a designated donor?

A: Absolutely not. You will receive the same level of care whether or not your desire to be a donor has been specified. A transplant team does not become involved until other physicians have determined that death has occurred.

In order to become an organ donor, brain death must be proven by a series of tests. Brain death is different than a coma--it is the irreversible cessation of all brain functions including the brain stem. No one can recover from brain death. Because patients who die of brain death are usually on a ventilator, there may be an appearance of "breathing." The air, however, is caused by the machine; a brain dead patient is not alive. Once the ventilator is shut off, the lungs will cease to function and the heart will stop. Organ and tissue recovery takes place only after death has been established. See the Dead Donor Rule in Ethical and Religious Directives #30 for more information.

Q: What is a living donor?

A: Because you have two kidneys and need only one, it is possible to donate a kidney while still alive. Living donors are able to resume their lifestyle shortly after surgery; most living donors return to work one week after surgery. Nevada Donor Network encourages living donation. However, NDN's task is to procure organs from deceased donors (those who have died). Living donors can also give blood, bone marrow, partial liver, and partial lungs.

Q: Can a donor still have an open casket funeral?

A: Yes. Transplant surgeons and technicians are extremely respectful of the body. The recovery of organs and tissues is conducted in an operating room under the direction of qualified surgeons. The body is not disfigured by organ recovery. An open casket funeral is possible after donation.

Q: Does the donor's family have to pay for the donation?

A: No. The donor's family does not pay for any expenses related to organ or tissue donation. Once consent for donation is established, the deceased is checked out of the hospital and readmitted under Nevada Donor Network's name. This ensures that all donation related expenses are billed to Nevada Donor Network. Once the transplant surgery is complete, the deceased is sent to the funeral home selected by the donor family. Funeral expenses remain the responsibility of the donor's family.

Q: Can I sell my organs?

A: No. The National Organ Transplant Act prohibits the sale of human organs in the United States. Violators are subject to fines and imprisonment. Among the reasons for this rule is the concern of Congress that buying and selling organs might lead to inequitable access to donors, with the wealthy having an unfair advantage. While some countries (China for example) participate in the buying and selling of organs, such a practice is not permitted in the United States. See Public Law 98-507.

Q: Are there for-profit companies involved in tissue processing and distribution?

A: Yes. Some services, such as highly specialized tissue used in spinal surgery, are available only through a select group of for-profit companies. Although the Federal Government requires organ banks like Nevada Donor Network to be not-for-profit, tissue processing does not fall under the Federal requirement.

Q: Is organ and tissue donation against my religion?

A: All major religions fully support donation, and consider it an act of charity and love. Faiths that do not support organ and/or tissue donation are Shinto and Gypsy. Find your religion.

Q: Will my organs and tissues be used for research?

A: Organ and tissues are used for research only with permission. Every effort is made to transplant usable organs and tissues. If that is not possible, research is an option. If you do not want your donation to go to research, tell your family or note your desires on your donor card. Every effort will be made to comply with your wishes.

Q: Is tissue used for cosmetic purposes?

A: Yes. Certain tissue can be used for cosmetic surgery such as facial reconstruction after a major accident. Procedures that are strictly cosmetic are typically not given the same priority as other types of procedures.

Q: What are the criteria for actual donation?

A: Organ Donation: Because vital organs must be kept oxygenated for successful transplantation, ventilators must sustain the donor's body. Therefore, an organ donor candidate must 1) be on a ventilator 2) have a beating heart 3) be brain dead. Deaths meeting these criteria are very rare. The typical organ donor is someone who has suffered head trauma.

Tissue Donation: Tissue donors must be free of cancer or infections.

Eye Donation: Eye donors must be cancer-free above the neck, be free of infections, and have not had cornea surgery (including lasik).

Whole Body Donation: When a person registers to become a donor on the state registry or at the DMV, it applies to transplantation only. In order to donate your body to science and medical research, you must either tell your family, or register with MERIN or IIAM. Please see our Links page for more information.

TRANSPLANT FACTS

Q: Who selects the recipient?

A: Patients waiting for an organ transplant are listed on a national computer system. Once the vital statistics are entered, the computer determines the best possible match for a donated organ. The formula used by the computer system includes blood type, size of organ, medical urgency, location, and time on the wait list. Because organs deteriorate rapidly once removed, location is a prime factor; local recipients receive first chance at donated organs. The organ distribution system (computer) is managed by the United Network for Organ Sharing, and is monitored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Q: How many people are on the waiting list for transplants?

A: Unfortunately, the number of people awaiting transplants has greatly outpaced the number of people donating their organs. Currently, there are over 91,000 people on the national transplant list. On an average day, 16 people will die while waiting for a donor organ. Recent statistics.

Q: Can people "buy" a better position on the waitlist?

A: No. The waitlist is controlled by the computer system. Wealth and celebrity cannot change a person's position on the list. However, it is true that to be placed on the waitlist one must prove an ability to pay for the transplant surgery. Those without sufficient funds or insurance may not be listed. Such discrimination is prevalent in many types of surgery, and is a travesty of the current health system. We encourage everyone to write to politicians about this problem in American healthcare. Similarly, we encourage people to give generously when fundraisers are held for those in need of transplants.

Q: Does racial discrimination affect the waitlist?

A: No. However, it is very important that a close physiological match exist between donor and recipient. Blood type and genetic make-up can cause a transplant to be rejected. Members of different racial and ethnic groups are usually more genetically similar to members of their own group than they are to others. Currently there are disproportionately high numbers of minorities on the waitlist, because there are so few minority donors. It is important, therefore, to increase the minority donor pool so that good matches can be made as frequently as possible for minority patients.

Q: What transplants are performed in Southern Nevada?

A: Sunrise Hospital Medical Center and University Medical Center perform kidney transplants. Tissue transplants are performed at every hospital in Southern Nevada. Currently, Nevada has no facility for heart, liver, pancreas, intestines or lung transplants. Southern Nevadans in need of these organs must go to transplant centers in other states. In most cases the patient's medical insurance company will determine which out-of-state center is used. When Nevada Donor Network procures organs not transplantable in Nevada, it sends them to the most urgent patient within a defined geographic area.