LifeSharers Offers Organ Shortage Solution on 50th Anniversary of First Transplant

Fifty years ago this week Ronald Herrick donated a kidney to his brother Richard, and the first successful human organ transplant was performed in Boston. Americans have been dying waiting for transplants ever since, in ever-increasing numbers. A grass-roots network of organ donors called LifeSharers has the solution to the problem. They call it Organs for Organ Donors" and are inviting all Americans to be part of the solution.

(PRWEB) December 20, 2004 -- Fifty years ago this week Ronald Herrick donated a kidney to his brother Richard, and the first successful human organ transplant was performed in Boston. Americans have been dying waiting for transplants ever since, in ever-increasing numbers. A grass-roots network of organ donors called LifeSharers has the solution to the problem. They call it Organs for Organ Donors" and are inviting all Americans to be part of the solution.

Everyone who helps us reduce the organ shortage will also help themselves in the process," says David J. Undis, Executive Director of LifeSharers. If you join LifeSharers and agree to donate your organs when you die, youll increase your chances of getting a transplant if you ever need one to live."

LifeSharers is a 501(c)(3) non-profit network of organ donors. Anyone can join for free at http://www.lifesharers.com. Members agree to donate their organs when they die, and they direct that their organs be offered first to other LifeSharers members. Non-members can have their organs if no member who needs them is a suitable match. By giving registered organ donors an edge over non-donors in the organ allocation process, LifeSharers gives everyone a powerful incentive to do their part in helping reduce the organ shortage.

There has been a shortage of organs ever since the first transplant operations were performed, and the shortage is getting worse every year. According to the United Network for Organ Sharing, over 87,000 Americans are now on the waiting list for an organ transplant. About 40,000 more people will join the list in the next twelve months.

More than half of the people on the transplant waiting list will die before they get a transplant. Somebody on the waiting list dies about every 90 minutes. Most of these deaths are unnecessary. Every year, Americans throw away thousands of transplantable organs. As a nation, we donate only half of the organs that could save lives and reduce suffering. We bury or cremate the rest.

"Thousands of people die needlessly every year -- not because life-saving organs don't exist, but because we don't give people a good enough reason to make them available in the first place," says Steve Calandrillo, Professor at the University of Washington School of Law. It is a fundamental issue of fairness that people who agree to donate organs should get priority if they need one. It is an irony that most organs go to people who haven't signed up as donors."

In the vast majority of cases, the rules used to decide who receives transplantable human organs dont take into account whether potential recipients have signed up as organ donors. People who refuse to donate their organs when they die still remain eligible for an organ transplant if they need one. As a result, about 70% of the organs transplanted in the United States go to people who havent agreed to donate their own organs.

LifeSharers helps organ donors get their fair share of organs, using laws that allow organ donors to direct who receives their organs. Directed donation as practiced by LifeSharers members is legal in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, as well as under federal law.

"Those who are willing to give should be the first to receive. LifeSharers makes this idea a reality," says Alexander Tabarrok, Associate Professor of Economics at George Mason University and Research Director at The Independent Institute. If enough people join LifeSharers, we could even have a surplus of organs."

It has been estimated that if the consent rate from suitable post-mortem donors was raised to 85%, everyone currently on the transplant waiting list could get a transplant within three years and newly listed patients would get transplants much faster.

We dont need medical breakthroughs to fix the organ shortage. We just need behavior change," says Mr. Undis. Trying to convince people that they should donate their organs because it will help others hasnt got the job done. Were giving people a better reason to donate their organs when they die -- a better chance to live if they ever need a transplant."

About LifeSharers
LifeSharers is a 501(c)(3) non-profit network of organ donors. Membership in LifeSharers is free and open to all. LifeSharers does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, physical handicap, health status, marital status, or economic status. Since its launch on May 22, 2002, LifeSharers has attracted 2,750 members, including members in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The LifeSharers web site is at http://www.lifesharers.com.

Professors Steve Calandrillo and Alexander Tabarrok are advisors to LifeSharers.

More information about Professor Calandrillo is available at http://www.law.washington.edu/Faculty/Calandrillo/

More information about Professor Tabarrok is available at http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/facultybios/tabarrok.html

###