OFF TOPIC ORGAN DONOR

[NJT 5573]

Well, I thought I was doing the right thing. Yesterday a friend told me that when his mother passed, she was an organ donor. The local Dr.s wanted her bone marrow, performed surgery to harvest it, and would not release the body for burial until he paid $4000.00 for the surgery. Go figure. I hope this is just Washington State and not nationwide. I see that little red heart comming off my drivers license as soon as I get back from vacation.

[HighTechRedneck]

I've never been big on medical lawsuits, but if I were in his situation and they tried that with me, the next phone call they received would be my lawyer.  By the time they finished discussing emotional trauma and punitive damages I'm sure the doctors and hospital administrator would be in a much more cooperative mood.

If by some chance Washington state laws permit such billing/actions, then I think it would be time to test the law in court.  Legislatures and local governments pass many laws that end up in the trash bin when challenged in court.

[captain ron]

I believe the doctors should be paying $4000.00 or for the funeral. That just sickens me.

[tekebird]

Call the cops then the newspaper and TV news.......corpse theft is a crime.......the only thing they are entitled to is the harvested parts. not the body.

now I don't know about the 4000.00 but let them go after the guy and try to get it.

[Busted Knuckle]

I'd contact a nation news outfit get lots of publicity going ! Maybe what is it that does the tv investigations Dateline or someone like that would love a great story like this!
BK 

[WEC4104]

Somebody's jerking somebody's chain here. Either we have the fragments of an urban legend here, or there is much more to the story than we are hearing.

The families of donors are NOT financially reponsible, period.  This is not just a personal opinion I am expressing, but factual information that can be verified.

take a look at the following website for the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) 
http://www.unos.org/news/myths.asp      from which I quote:


Myth: If you agree to donate your organs, your family will be charged for the costs.

Fact: There is no cost to the donor's family or estate for organ and tissue donation. Funeral costs remain the responsibility of the family.

So perhaps the $4000 was for medical costs incurred before the transplant? Or maybe there was some misinformed schmuck at the hospital who didn't have any idea what he was talking about? (every organization has some)  Did the family actually end up paying the $4000, or was the mistake discovered and corrected?

I'll bet if we attempted to get the name of the hospital, the date of the harvesting, and verification that $4000 truely had to be paid by the donor's family,  we would find this info mysteriously unavailable.  Certainly the news folks would be drooling for this kind of story.

I am so confident that the situation is not as presented, I will pledge my own personal time to correct this injustice and work to get this family's $4K back.  Just give me the info to run with and I'll contact the hospital, UNOS, news outlets, and whoever else it takes to right this wrong.

The real fact is that many people benefit each year from all sorts of organ transplants and there is wonderful work being done in these areas.  If $4000 had to be paid out by the family, I will work diligently to get their money back.  But if, as I suspect, there are pieces of the story missing, a tremendous disservice is being done to the organ and tissue programs.  I simply cannot sit back and let people be discouraged from participating based on false information.

So... can we get the rest of the details?

WEC4104

[Busted Knuckle]

I agree 100% with WEC4104!
BK 

[FloridaCliff]

Well said WEC4104!

I have been a registered organ donor for decades.

But, since some of you folks have connections, or act as if you do......

Is there any reason to want them after I am deceased?     I'm waiting!

Cliff

[Len Silva]

I don't care about your organs, but engines, transmissions, generators are greatly appreciated

[Ncbob]

You really ought to be careful here Cliffy....there are forces out there on the dark side who might be interested in your relatively young muscular body.

But on the other hand...(she had a wart) please don't be in a hurry!  You have a wonderful wife, two great kids...and you aren't finished with the help you promised me on my bus!

NCbob

[Kristinsgrandpa]

I've had an organ transplant, but it didn't work out.  I had a rectum transplant but the rectum rejected me.


Ed

[NJT 5573]

WEC, I gave all the details that I was told. I was having breakfast that morning in a resturant. The family next to me told this story first person. I'm a donor and I hope that there is more to this than what I was told. This family was quite upset. I'm taking the Coach South for a couple weeks to get some Sun tomorrow. When I return I will try to get some more info about this. I have a distant relative that works in a local hospital that may be some help. I kinda wish I'd have gotten more info before I repeated this story at this point.

[delzy_RTS3]

I think what's most misunderstood is that your organs are not necessarily going to go to a living person. Many organ donors end up on a slab in a medical school with post-pubescent teens gigling and joking while your corpse is being sliced up for "education". I've specifically asked if I could be guaranteed that my organs would only go to needing recipients and the answer was no... and so was mine. Let them pay bums to sign the paper.

[WEC4104]

NJT:  My sincere hope is that there has been a simple misunderstanding here, and that your friends have their situation straightened out by the time you get back. I also apologize if my earlier comments came across sounding uncaring toward your friend's particular situation.

I have several ties to the medical community involved in transplant work, and have tremendous respect for the work they do. As a result, I find it difficult to sit quiet while misinformation is being  spread.

I have a retired uncle who spent many years working for a major hospital in Philadelphia. His job involved keeping human kidneys alive between transplants. Last November I toured the Delaware Valley Eye Bank, an institution heavily supported by the Lions Club of which I am a member. This institution is instrumental in restoring sight to people through 800 cornea transplants each year.

I have been close enough to various organizations to know that donors families would not be held financially responsible for the procedure discussed.  Again, if your friends truely were charged for the transplant procedures, I am volunteering my time to go to bat for them and fight for what is right.

I just couldn't let people read the initial message and go away thinking that voluteering to be a donor would put their family at a financial risk.

Let me know what you are able to find out.

WEC4104

[bubbaqgal]

I am registered to be a bone marrow donor.  When I was tested and signed up I was told  that if my marrow was ever needed the family of the patient, or their insurance company, would pay for the surgery as well as my travel expense to get to wherever I needed to go to have the marrow harvested.  Cat