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from the you-put-your-left-leg-in,-your-left-leg-out... dept.
ScienceDaily reports:
Researchers say there should be an international database containing the very latest information about organ donations and transplants, so policy makers can make informed decisions on whether to adopt an opt-out or opt-in system.
The call comes after a study [in the UK], carried out by The University of Nottingham, the University of Stirling and Northumbria University, showed that overall an opt-out system might provide a greater number of organs for transplant but many factors can influence the success of either system and a repository of accessible information would help individual countries decide which one would be better for them.
The research published in the online academic journal BioMed Central Medicine (BMC Medicine), is the first international comparison that examines both deceased as well as living organ/transplant rates in opt-in and opt-out systems.
[...] Professor Fergusson argues that it is imperative for transplant organizations to routinely collect data on important organ donation indices -- consent type, procurement procedure, number of intensive care beds and trained surgeons -- and make this publicly available to inform future research and policy recommendations.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Common Joe on Tuesday September 30 2014, @05:06AM
I'm a little surprised by how many people are in favor of the opt-out system for organ donation... especially after we all get opted-in for so many things in the computer world that many of us disapprove of. The kicker of it is that organ donation should be easy to opt-in for most people in the U.S. I've lived in three states in the U.S. (Louisiana, Texas, and Indiana) and all of them had a little check box when getting or renewing the driver's license asking for organ donation. Most people in the U.S. should have a driver's license or photo ID generated by the state so organ donation should be an easy thing to do. To boot, most people carry their ID with them all the time so just by looking at the ID, medical technicians know if you're a donor or not. Perfect? No, but it's still a decent low tech system.
To encourage people to sign up, organ donors should be given preferential treatment to receive organ transplants. A system would have be devised to prevent people from signing up last minute when they get diagnosed with a deadly disease. I don't want money exchanging hands or it will certainly be turned into people donating everything they can just to feed their family; the rich vs the poor scenario.
Not helping is the medical and insurance communities. I've been to enough doctors to know many are incompetent. I'd hate to have them making the decision as to whether to turn me into a donor or try to save my life. I've felt on more than on occasion that they were telling me things for my money instead of my health. This AC [soylentnews.org] makes a good argument. Insurance companies? We all have horror stories about them.
I'd like to see some clearly written rules in plain English so people can make a good decision as to whether or not to sign up. I have never seen anything that details under what conditions my organs will be used. I'm a supporter of the organ donation community, but I have no easy-to-access information to try to convince others to join.
Sorry if my thoughts were a little disjointed as I jumped from paragraph to paragraph. I was trying to address multiple ideas without being too wordy.