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DanteJazz t1_itntdh1 wrote

The organ shortage could be solved so simply: Create an opt-out process rather than opt-in. Everyone would be considered opt-in to organ donation upon death, unless they opt-out. (Usually, it's on the driver's license in California for opting in). Then, we would have a lot of organs available.

Since no one thinks they are going to die, they don't put opt-in, and some people have religious beliefs that keep them from donating. Meanwhile, 7000 people die a year because of lack of organ donations. 3.3 million people died in the US last year. If even 10% donated organs, that would be 330,000 people, and I think 7000 organs could be found among those that are suitable.

I'd like to see 1 or 2 of our 50 states do this as a pilot project.

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KorgX3 t1_itnv8w6 wrote

My mother is one of those religious types. She believes if you donate organs, it's going to make it harder for Jesus to resurrect you after the Rapture or some shit. I'm like, "the Dude could just make me new organs," but she thinks everyone is going to be literal zombies coming back to life in their old bodies.

Personally, I opt in every fucking time not just because it's the right thing to do but to spite that old cow. Chop me up, sell me on dahmerdash.com, make me a cadaver so some intern can play with my micropenis. I don't care; just have fun.

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Ok_Skill_1195 t1_itnyrgn wrote

You should go over human decomposition with her. I have no doubt she wouldn't realize she was wrong, but it would be interesting to watch how she tries to incorporate that into her zombie resurrection head cannon.

Or do only the recently dead get to come back?

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Bonesmash t1_itnzzko wrote

To add to this hilarious point: what about cremation? How about the “relics” of catholic saints? Does the saint revive around its head or some other holy body part, like a finger. This could be really important for saints who got parted out by the church.

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KorgX3 t1_ito1vxr wrote

I have no idea, but I don't talk to her anymore. She was raised Mormon so I assume that's where it comes from. She has her 10 year supply of food in the basement, she painted her house bright colors, all this shit she was told to do because the end of days was supposed to happen in her lifetime. A lot of them also believe the Earth is only 7000 years old and that dinosaur fossils were put there by Lucifer to deceive us. It's best to just keep them at arm's length. lol

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Ok_Skill_1195 t1_ito460v wrote

Yikes, sorry you had to grow up in that, glad you got out.

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Oznog99 t1_itoaiz3 wrote

She's not a Christian, she's an Egyptian pharoah.

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draculamilktoast t1_itph0go wrote

How does she know Jesus will resurrect her given that she didn't allow him to resurrect another after her death?

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Whispering-Depths t1_iuf1kzv wrote

Ah, yes. Because their made up religious figure who's all about mega-kindness would surely punish you for a free act of kindness.

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shaneh445 t1_itopdmn wrote

Zombies

Religion

Rebirth

Why oh WHY do some people want another lifetime of all the silliness we've got going on/have gone through lol

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DooDooSlinger t1_itovxjt wrote

Because life is actually pretty great and you sure are on the wrong sub

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currentscurrents t1_itomb89 wrote

This is a good idea but it wouldn't completely solve the problem. There are countries with opt-out policies, and they do have higher donation rates, but the demand still exceeds the supply. This isn't going to change as long as the leading cause of death is old age.

Technology is the only answer here; xenotransplantation or organ cloning. Right now xenotransplantation is much more promising - just this year, a genetically-altered pig heart was successfully transplanted into a human. We are going to see a lot more clinical trials in the very near future.

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TheGoodFight2015 t1_itouhqe wrote

Incredibly, there is already a standard set of using animal parts as replacement parts, not for entire organs but for things like valves. And they apparent work quite well. There is so much hope and promise of medical advancement in the near future. I work near an area that has some of the most advanced medical facilities and research in the world, and I get such a rush any time I go by there at the thought of what good humans are doing for a better future.

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MightyBoat t1_itp2kby wrote

That's so cool. I'm assuming the genetically modified part means there's no need for life long anti rejection medication?

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RivetheadGirl t1_itson4r wrote

It probably would depend on how exactly they can match your body's biomarkers.

Even mechanical valves need to have a person taking anticoagulant medicine life long to prevent them from getting clots in their body because it's a foreign object.

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techno156 t1_itp5j6y wrote

>Right now xenotransplantation is much more promising - just this year, a genetically-altered pig heart was successfully transplanted into a human. We are going to see a lot more clinical trials in the very near future.

Unfortunately, he died shortly after, so it might not be quite there just yet.

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AnneFrankFanFiction t1_itpbsjn wrote

That wasn't unexpected, though. Really the experiment gave him an extra two months of life. The next trial will likely last longer. That's how science works: incremental improvements

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StonerJake22727 t1_itq6qdq wrote

Yeah but the guy with the pig heart only lived for like 2 months.. it’s a start but not even close to a Viable option

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onlyoncomp t1_itoflpm wrote

How do you explain the fact that in other countries where organ donation is opt-out, the shortage is almost as bad as it is in the United States?

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RivetheadGirl t1_itsnr1l wrote

I'm in California, we have a law on the books that any health care professional who has a patient meeting organ donor criteria gets called in and evaluated for donation. Generally this is:

  1. A Glasgow Coma score of less than 5 (normal is 15, less than 9 generally means you need to be intubated to be kept alive.
  2. the loss of 1 of more brain stem reflexes.
  3. discussions of the possibility of removing life support or the futility of life support may occur, etc.
  4. Any patient that dies in the hospital, gets called in for evaluation for organ/tissue donation by law.

I've taken care of many patients who have been prepped for organ donation post brain death or cardiac death in the OR.

Obtaining organs isn't an easy process. Kidneys can be obtained from a living donor. But, other organs such as the heart and lungs are very delicate and any prolonged time without tissue perfusion will make them ineligible for donation. The reason most of our donors come from events such as car accidents is because they decline so fast in the field that they are often intubated at the site of the accident or in the ER.

A good candidate for organ donation is also a very involved patient because of all the requirements with imaging, labs etc. You can't declare a person brain dead until you have rules out all other contributing factors such as electrolyte imbalances, blood gases, sedative medications, etc. When you take care of one of these patients you are on a 1:1 in them in the ICU. Doing blood work every 6 hours, x-rays, CT, cath lab and on and on, just to determine if they are even eligible for donation.

Then on the other side of things the donation team is running all of their biomarkers to determine who is an eligible match. Besides antibodies a recipient needs to be of a simular body size and age so that the organ can work properly in their body and not be in effective or too old. They also usually have to be a simular race so that their antibodies match as well. You can also find someone needing an organ that has an infectious disease such as hepatitis or HIV and still donate to that person if the donor also has that disease. Sometimes if the donor has certain diseases, but healthy organs they will still do the transplant, and then treat the recipient for that disease.

Covid was horrible though, because we had so many people die, but their organs were destroyed by the vascular damage Covid did to them that none of them could be an organ donor.

But, even if you can't get a person to be a good organ donor due to whatever they died of, many can still be tissue donors ( a better more viable option if you were to do an "opt-out" program). One person can donate enough tissue to help 90 people receive tissue grafts.

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[deleted] t1_itp5m5f wrote

Doesn't work that way. It's something very intrusive so you can't just opt-out it has to be opt-in.

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mason240 t1_ito4p9k wrote

My body is mine by default. It's not yours. It doesn't belong to society.

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Orcand t1_itoo90j wrote

Congratulations, in the suggested system you can choose to opt out and your stingy organs will rot instead of saving a life. No one is forcing you to participate in the new system. Just making it so that lazy people are contributing by default instead of being wasted.

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tjborch t1_ito79wl wrote

His implication doesn’t say your body is the state’s while you exist. Removed part implying you have no rights when you’re dead.

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darabolnxus t1_itohcn7 wrote

Except you have no idea how long your consciousness lingers in a dead body. You could he stuck in there as you decompose and slowly disappear. Either way, bodily autonomy doesn't end at death. Otherwise I'd be getting some old white guy's inheritance.

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tjborch t1_itoik1f wrote

If there are no heirs to an inheritance the entirety of it goes to the state. Similar to this concept I would say. If there are no plans for the body then let the organs be harvested.

How would a body with zero brain activity harbor consciousness? Even if it did it wouldn’t be able to relay signals of pain, nor would it have a use for organs.

Just like inheritance the body does need to be accounted for, even though it’s not a perfect simile. If a nation wants to take the course of action outlined by the OP commenter, I see no problem with it. Just go opt out and let less selfish people save lives.

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Onekone t1_itolt48 wrote

Hours, at extreme best.

Brain works off blood flow and once it shuts off due to lack of blood oxygen flow, there goes your life

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currentscurrents t1_itomo5z wrote

If you're dead, society is the only one that has a say in the matter.

Is it good for society to look for harvestable organs after every death? Probably - they're not helping anyone in the grave.

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Cheetahs_never_win t1_itonlyp wrote

Maybe let me donate blood before you come after my organs.

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Tuuin t1_itp4nyu wrote

Could do both and help a lot of people.

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Cheetahs_never_win t1_itq91t6 wrote

I don't understand why people are downvoting me. I'm a monogamous gay man.

I can't donate blood. But my organs are perfectly a-ok.

facepalm

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RivetheadGirl t1_itspde5 wrote

It's a stupid rule, but it's being re-evaluated. Organ donation doesn't have that requirement, because on the off chance that a person has hepatitis, HIV/AIDS or other similar transmissable diseases, they will just find a patient who is already positive for that disease, and a match and just do the transplant and then continue to treat them after.

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