People Who Refuse To Organ Donate

[PepperElf]

yeah in the US whole blood is every 8 weeks. My next avail date is the 29th of this month.

Plasma is ... not sure, but it's a shorter period

[BlaqueKatt]

Plasma is ... not sure, but it's a shorter period

usually twice a week-i have friends that sell their plasma regularly.
From the American red cross

DONATION FREQUENCY (may vary)
Whole Blood donors may donate every 56 days.
Plasma donors may donate twice a week (max. every 48 hours.)
Platelet donors may donate a maximum of 24 times per year.
Other specialized donations are subject to other rules.

[Pedersen]

And this "myth" of organ donors are killed by the ER staff has been around since the 70's-I heard tales of ambulance drivers carrying a plumber's wrench to bash in the skull of anyone with an organ donor card-yup that happend I'm sure of it

The rest, you may well be correct about. I'm not in the medical profession, only the son of an RN who worked for Pocono Medical Center for about 15 years. I asked him (not a typo: My father is an RN), and he confirmed that, on a basic level, I was correct. I might have some of the specifics incorrect, but the basics are still there, and still correct.

Oh, and it is absolutely a myth that the ER staff kill a patient for their organs, you are correct. However, it is not a myth that the transplant surgical team absolutely is responsible for the onset of the death of the body. In ideal conditions for the transplant team, the patient is brain dead, but the body continues to function. As a result, they actually are the ones who kill the body, since they cut the beating heart out of it. No matter how you slice it, that team actually kills its patients, and does so deliberately.

By law they can only ask once, and they can only do it after the patient has been declared brain dead.

I cannot help but note the lack of any citation of this. I've been searching on Google, and the closest I have been able to find for this is a mention of "Organ Procurement Organizations" having trained people whose job it is to "discuss the possibility of being an organ donor with the brain dead patient's family".

So, I will ask for your citation. Failing that, I will call bullshit, and recount my own father's experiences with those OPO trained people. In his words, they were vultures who did everything they could to try to coerce people into allowing the OPO person to take their loved one's organs. Not exactly "ask only once" or "only after the patient has been declared brain dead."

In fact, going from this article, since the OPO personnel are notified of "imminent deaths", and go out then and there to evaluate the potential for being an organ donor, it seems that they are not even required to wait for a pronouncement of brain death.

I definitely need to see a citation.

Actually they can take your corneas without your consent (federal law)-it's usually done by the ME at your autopsy-your eyelids are glued shut at the same time. But if they're not healthy-I doubt they would.

Those laws apply here in the USA. Since Seshat is an Australian, they don't apply so much. I wonder what the laws regarding this are there?

[smileyeagle1021]

My two cents on the topic, I can understand why someone would not want to be an organ donor... I still think they are wrong though. Brain dead is not something you come back from... oh yeah, they may be able to bring you back from the coma, but they will never be able to restore you to the person you were. Killing the physical body is just finishing the process that really has already happened.
My personal take, my life is not worth much. I doubt very much more than two or three dozen people would even notice my death. Yeah, my coworkers might wonder why I stopped showing up, they may even notice the death notice in the paper... but honestly, it's not uncommon in this industry for people to just stop coming, they'd probably think I just got a better job. Same thing with classmates, they'd probably just assume that I had to stop school because of work or family conflicts... it's quite common at the community college. On here and CS, look at how many people just randomly drop off, same thing could be said about every online community I'm a member of. The only people I know for certain would notice are my roommates, my mother and more direct family (aunts, uncles, and cousins), and about a dozen friends who would find out from my roommates and more direct family. If my death would save 2 or 3 people who's lives are more meaningful than mine, then that is a sacrafice I'd gladly make.