New Law Simplifies Organ Donation

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New Law Simplifies Organ Donation

Updated: March 18, 2008 09:22 PM

By Jason Zimmerman

Monday Governor Doyle signed a bill which is expected to boost the number of organ donations in Wisconsin.

The new law establishes a donor registration allowing people to sign up as organ donors any time, not just when they renew their drivers license.

It also lowers the age of consent from 18 to 15 years old.

And in cases where the donor's intentions are unclear, it elevates the consent-granting powers of appointed health-care agents over family members.

At Theda Clark Hospital, Dr. Ray Georgen says a statewide donor registry will make it easier to track people willing to give up vital organs when they die.

"There's over a hundred people a year in the state of Wisconsin that die while on the transplant list. Anything we can do to allow these people to be transplanted in a faster fashion will certainly help their lives," he said.

Right now the best way to know if a person is a donor is to check their drivers license. The problem is, a person might not have their license at the time they're mortally injured, and in most cases the information from the Department of Transportation is only updated once every eight years. That means a number of people willing to be donors might not actually be recognized.

"Sometimes in the hospital bureaucracy and the medical bureaucracy, that information will get lost until it's too late. That's sad. So the last wishes of a person to donate to save someone else's life was not fulfilled. That makes sure that kind of thing doesn't happen," Representative Steve Wickert, an Appleton Republican, said.

The law goes into a effect within 90 days. That means a phone hotline will be set up for people willing to register, and doctors will have access to the information online.

"This just really allows people to think about this, ahead of time, and really takes the pressure off the family members in a horrible situation to begin with," Doctor Georgen said.

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