Organ Donors.

jambutty · 04-09-2006, 22:32

Recently the government has suggested that if a person carries an organ donor card and/or is a registered organ donor then the next of kin can no longer countermand the deceased’s wishes upon his/her death.

This is something that is long overdue and I agree with the proposal whole-heartedly.

In fact I would go one step further and instead of people OPTING IN to organ donation I would require people to OPT OUT. So if someone does not want to donate their organs to another when they die they would have to carry an OPT OUT card and/or register their view in a central database.

Once I have breathed my last, the old heart has shuddered to a halt and all brain activity has ceased, they can take whatever bits of me that might be useful to someone to enable them to live a bit longer. They can chuck the remainder on the nearest bonfire or feed it to zoo animals because my body has served its purpose.

I would also be very interested to know the views on organ donation of other than Christian religions.

chav1 · 05-09-2006, 00:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by jambutty

in fact I would go one step further and instead of people OPTING IN to organ donation I would require people to OPT OUT.

why should i cary a card that says i dont want my body shredding to bits to be scavaged over for strangers , if somone wants to dontate their parts they can cary a card saying so

would you like charities taking money at will out of your bank because you hadnt sighned a form saying they cant

i agree that the persons wishes should be help up but if somone wants their organs to be donated they will take the time to pick up a card at the doctors , it isnt hard to do they are right there on the counter at most doctors reception desks

its people thinking that way that led to peoples deceased children been kept in bottles and dicected for experiments at that hospital a few years ago

my parts are my own and until i sighn a paper saying otherwise they rot or burn with teh rest of me

well apart from whats in storage at the hospital already ,they can do what they want with that

cashman · 05-09-2006, 00:19

i don't believe in it, but thats just me.

jimmi5bellies · 05-09-2006, 07:30

I agree wholeheartedly with the OPTING OUT BIT.
I carry an organ card in my purse, one in my bikers jacket and it is decared on my driving licence. My whole family know how strong i feel about donating my body parts and how important it is to me. I am a firm believer that if you are prepared to take donors parts and even blood donations then you should be more prepared to give.
I am also on the blood bone marrow donors list. This is a simple test to have done, they just take an extra little bit of blood at the blood donors and send it off.

WillowTheWhisp · 05-09-2006, 07:59

I totally agree that if you are prepared to take then you should also be prepared to give. I think it's awful when people have decided they want to donate their organs and carry donor cards only to have their relatives countermand that when they are dead. What's the point of having a card in that case? It should be the wishes of the deceased that count.

Using Chav's analogy of the charities and the will, it would be totally wrong for relatives to go against the terms of a will so it should be illegal to go against the wishes of a donor card carrier too.

There's also the point that doctors are not keen on asking next of kin if they can use parts of their deceased loved one when the person has just passed away but they can't leave it too long or the organs would be unusable. I'd hate to be a doctor put in that position.

SPUGGIE J · 05-09-2006, 08:08

I look at it this way that if I cop my lot then what use are my bits and pieces that are left. Might as well give them to someone who can be saved and could live many years more than without. Why relatives want all the bits and bobs beats me especially when they will either be barbequed or left to rot in a hole. If I decree that I want my "leftovers" to be used to save someone then I dont think anyone should stop that. Several people could live andsomeone could see again. Now thats the kind of legacy I would like to leave when I croak.

entwisi · 05-09-2006, 08:39

I'm in the same bus as most on here, take what you want from my body. Aslo re opting out, all in favour again, the analogy of money doesn't stack up as its still useful to you. After you are dead your body is worthless to you but of unmeasureable value to someone else. People don't remember the physical, they remember the soul.

mickmc · 05-09-2006, 21:01

I agree with all comments so far - it is the wish of the donor that should be uppermost

I carry the card, all my nearest and dearest know my views, I registered online for the organ donor register

However to take the pressure of the medico's, I think we might follow the Scandinavian model of " required request " in which, by law, the doctors in dealing with all cases where there has been a death - they have to , by law, ask the relatives, where no card is carried or registered as a donor, if they would consider donation

Most relatives at that point are too lost in their own grief and the doctors/nurses feel a bit timid of raising the subject

It would take the pressure off the medical proffesion who would then say "we have to ask by law" and may just give relative a nudge and time to think about the long term

I speak from experience of losing a son at 1 day old many years ago now, and now knowing of all the other babes that could have been helped if only we were asked. We were too racked with grief at the time and it was only later, hearing of other babies dying waiting for heart transplants etc that I asked the question " why weren't we asked ? " to be met with the reply - " well, we didn't like to ask at that time " - if they had been required by law to at least ask, the pressure would have been off the medical staff and it might have focussed our minds and alieviated our grief to know that at least we might help another child to live a happy and fulfilled life

ANNE · 05-09-2006, 21:12

I have also registered on line and all my family know it is my wish to donate whatever organs they wish to use.
They will be of no use to me and if I can help just one person by my death then my life has not been for nothing.

WillowTheWhisp · 05-09-2006, 21:38

That's a very good point MickMc.

chav1 · 05-09-2006, 21:41

i did say that i agreed that families should not be able to cancel teh wishes of teh donar card carrier

what i disagree with is unless you say otherwise your body can be plundered for parts

if you want to donate organs carry a card saying so

if it is altered so that anyone not carying a card forbidding their organs to be taken all sorts of things will happen

in some countries the homeless and other vulnerable people are murdered for body parts

aslo some religeons forbid the giving and excepting of organs , not sure about organs but jehovas witnesses for instance are not allowed blood transfusions

the sysyem that is in place works fine as it is,if somone feels so strongly that they want to donate organs they do somthing about it ie: carry a card saying so

if anything been an organ donator shoud be harder to do with all the diseases around today

if i remember correctly a few years ago there was a big fuss about people buying and selling organs on teh internet to the highest bidder , either poor people queing up to sell a kindney or people selling their family members body parts and lets face it in some countries it isnt unheard of for somone to slaughter a family member for a few quid

LancYorkYankee · 06-09-2006, 02:57

I also have an organ donor card and wish more people just understood how important an issue it was. Not sure I'd go as far as an opt out. Some, my wife included, can only picture their body parts being harvested and it is pretty freaky. I'm certainly fine with that. For me it's just a empty shell by then and would just end up rotting anyhow.

Would like to see more information given out to the public. I think many over here don't really give it much thought. I did notice when I got my license renew (every 4 years), they asked if I wanted to be a donor and it goes right onto your license. I imagine that has brought alot more people into agreeing to it.

Brian

SPUGGIE J · 06-09-2006, 08:56

Is that bound by law or just like carrying a donar card that can be challanged by surviving relatives?

WillowTheWhisp · 06-09-2006, 09:46

If I'd signed a donor card and my relatives opposed it I think I'd come back and haunt them!

(Mimi and Emzy be warned!)

SPUGGIE J · 06-09-2006, 10:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by WillowTheWhisp

If I'd signed a donor card and my relatives opposed it I think I'd come back and haunt them!

(Mimi and Emzy be warned!)

Now theres a thought. Blackmail them with a haunting if my bits n bobs are not used for a someone in need of them more than me.