Bill would keep families from stopping organ gifts

[KT0930]

It's finally come to my home state!! When I was dropping my son off with my mother-in-law the morning I got my first call for a kidney, I found out that she didn't know family could override the decision to donate. If she didn't know, how many others don't know??

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By ELIZABETH LEE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 03/26/08
 
Georgians who check the "organ donor" box on a driver's license application are not assured that their wishes will be followed after death. Family members who object to donating body parts can stop the gift.

Senate Bill 405, which passed the state House Health and Human Services Committee on Wednesday, would clarify Georgia law to ensure that organ procurement agencies may harvest organs without additional permission from family members, if a donor has indicated the intention in one of several ways, including on a driver's license, a state-issued identification card or a living will.

Family members could over-ride the wishes of the deceased only if the potential donor was younger than 18.

LifeLink of Georgia, the nonprofit procurement organization that serves Georgia, has been asking family members to approve a donation because current state law is unclear, executive director Kathleen T. Lilly said. If the bill passes, LifeLink would not seek such approval anymore, Lilly told committee members.

LifeLink urges those who want to donate organs to discuss their intentions with family members so they would not be surprised.

In a 2004 report, the Joint Commission, which accredits more than 15,000 health-care organizations in the United States, recommended several moves to increase the number of organ donations.

The report cited statistics that more than 6,000 Americans on transplant waiting lists die each year because not enough organs are available.

One of the recommendations included allowing hospitals to honor a driver's license or donor registry rather than hesitating out of fear of lawsuits or of respect for the wishes of a donor's family.


http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/stories/2008/03/26/organdonor_0327.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13

[Romona]

A little strange that someone's wishes could be overridden by family when they are dead. But when you are alive, you can refuse treatment, get an abortion ect..... I just think if someone has a right to do what the want in life, it should be the same in death. 

[thegrammalady]

there should be laws in every state that make my decision to be an organ doner final. but there aren't.

[Rerun]

We need "Presumed Conscent" in this country.  You are considered an organ donor unless you put in writing otherwise.

[willieandwinnie]

We had legal documents drawn up that we are organ and tissue donors. I carry them in my purse, Len has one in his wallet, my children have copies and the 2 hospitals that we frequent the most have copies (not that it would do much good  ).