Process Of Donation Their Organs After Death example essay topic

To Donate or Not to Donate Have you talked to your family about being an organ donor, and is the back of your driver's license signed stating you are an organ donor? This is an important topic to be deeply considered. Organ substitution is a dramatic medical breakthrough for people with serious health problems, but it also raised dramatic social problems. The recipients desperate for a second chance at life wait on lists hoping their name will be called. Family members are asked to donate their organs because there are never enough donors. All transplant procedures are extremely expensive for the patients, the insurance companies, and the State and Federal Government, which often picks up the bill.

Some surveillance procedures have been established to protect the personal rights of the recipients and the donors. The medical idea of organ substitution began nearly 50 years ago. The process has made remarkable progress within a short span of time. The first kidney transplant took in the early 1950's.

Since that time transplants of the heart, lungs, liver, pancreas, and all vital organs have been made successful. Patients who suffer from defects with one or more of their vital organs wait on a list that is registered with the United Network of Organ Sharing. This is a tracking service founded in Richmond, Virginia in 1984. The network established an organ acquiring agency in each region of the United States to allow for registration of patients nationwide and provide for open sharing of organs. There are transplant units in or near every major city and almost every state university in the United States. The network also built a point system using strict medical credentials for the selection of final recipients.

At least 23,000 Americans are on the waiting list of the United Network of Organ Sharing. The perfect donor is a young, healthy person who dies suddenly. Not many young people between ages of twenty and thirty think about death and if they have considered donating their organs, often they do not know how to begin the process of donation their organs after death. Fewer people are dying suddenly now because of tougher regulations on seat belt and helmet laws. When an eligible donor becomes available, only one in six have made the arrangements necessary to have their organs donated.

Evaluating potential recipients also means evaluating their financial position. The ability to pay, whether by private insurance coverage, Medicare or with state funds is a major factor. The patient who benefits from a transplant can end up buried in stacks of medical bills. The reason for a high medical bill is because of the constant care and checkups after the operations. Drugs to prevent infection can be very expensive. Undoubtedly, an organ transplantation is exciting and a dangerous voyage into the medical field.

To many there is a moral and ethical question about using other peoples organs to alter God's plan for life. Also, many people believe that the available organs are going only to the wealthy. The only answer to saving more lives, is to obtain more donors. Potential donors must be reached and educated so that a greater supply of donated organs is available to the patients who continue to weaken and die. A limitless supply of available organs would reduce the numbers on the waiting lists and lower the death rate of the seriously ill. The medical costs could be greatly reduced by shorter hospital stays of the organ recipients if they could get a transplant before their condition becomes worse.

Consider being an organ donor, because if you have your health, you have everything.