Number of Wisconsin Donors May Increase

Number of organ donors may increase
By David Wahlberg
608-252-6125
dwahlberg@madison.com

The percentage of Wisconsin residents who pledge to be organ donors, already higher than in most states, could rise because of a bill recently passed by the Legislature that Gov. Jim Doyle is expected to sign.

The bill establishes a donor registry, allowing people to sign up any time, not only when they renew their driver's license every eight years. It also lowers the age of consent from 18 to 15.

In addition, the bill strengthens a hospital 's ability to carry out people 's wishes to donate organs upon their death even if their family members disagree. And in cases where it 's unclear if the person wanted to be an organ donor, the bill elevates the consent-granting power of appointed health-care agents over family members.

"It allows people who make their wishes known to be honored and not overridden," said Dr. Tony D'Alessandro, director of UW Hospital 's organ recovery service, which covers most of the state.

About 51 percent of Wisconsin motorists say on their driver 's licenses that they want to be organ donors, said Jay Campbell, director of the Milwaukee area 's organ recovery service.

That's higher than in most states, Campbell said.

The bill should increase the number of people who pledge to be donors and boost the number of actual donors, D'Alessandro said.

Introduced by Rep. Steve Wieckert, R-Appleton, the bill was passed last month. Doyle will sign it soon, said his spokeswoman Jessica Erickson.

The state Department of Transportation keeps records of people whose driver's licenses say they want to be donors. But the records aren 't easily accessible by doctors in the middle of the night, when questions about organ donation often arise, D'Alessandro said.

Furthermore, people can 't sign up unless they are getting or renewing their licenses.

With the donor registry, doctors will be able to access the information at any time, and people can sign up whenever they want. Once the registry is set up, campaigns will be started to urge people to enroll, D 'Alessandro said.

Another bill, passed last week and also expected to be signed by Doyle, authorizes Donate Life Wisconsin license plates. Proceeds will help fund organ donation campaigns.

In other states, organ recovery services have been taken to court when they have tried to follow a pledged donor 's wishes over the objections of family members.

That hasn 't happened in Wisconsin, but it could have, D 'Alessandro said. The Wieckert bill makes such legal wrangling much less likely, he said.

For pledged donors, "it makes it stronger that we 're not asking for consent from the family, " he said. "We 're talking with them and telling them, here 's how we will proceed. "

For people whose wishes aren 't clear, the bill gives the power of consent first to health-care agents, people designated by the potential donors, similar to a power of attorney. Then spouses, adult children, parents and adult siblings have the right to decide, followed by other groups. Previously, health-care agents followed the family members.

The bill also allows a majority of people authorized to grant consent to approve a donation instead of requiring a unanimous decision.

Many states have adopted similar changes, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, which oversees the country 's organ donation system.

Despite Wisconsin 's stellar rate of pledged organ donors, more than 110 patients on the transplant waiting list in the state died last year, D 'Alessandro said.

"Anything we can do to increase transplants is a good thing, " he said. "You can always do better. "

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