Rates of organ donation lag far behind the increasing need. At the start of 2006, more than 90,000 people were waiting to receive a solid organ (kidney, liver, lung, pancreas, heart, or intestine). Organ Donation examines a wide range of proposals to increase organ donation, including policies that presume consent for donation as well as the use of financial incentives such as direct payments, coverage of funeral expenses, and charitable contributions. This book urges federal agencies, nonprofit groups, and others to boost opportunities for people to record their decisions to donate, strengthen efforts to educate the public about the benefits of organ donation, and continue to improve donation systems. Organ Donation also supports initiatives to increase donations from people whose deaths are the result of irreversible cardiac failure. This book emphasizes that all members of society have a stake in an adequate supply of organs for patients in need, because each individual is a potential recipient as well as a potential donor.Table of Contents


Front Matter
Summary
1 Introduction
2 Trends and Patterns
3 Perspectives and Principles
4 Systems To Support Organ Donation
5 Expanding The Population of Potential
6 Promoting and Facilitating Individual and Family Decisions to Donate
7 Presumed Consent
8 Incentives for Deceased Donation
9 Ethical Considerations In Living Donation
10 Opportunities for Action
Appendix A Acronyms
Appendix B Workshop Meetings
Appendix C First-Person Consent Status and Organ Donor Registry Participation
Appendix D Quantifying Self-Interest in Organ Donation
Appendix E HRSA's Extramural Research Program
Appendix F Washington Hospital Center: Protocol for the Rapid Organ Recovery Program, Transplantation Services
Appendix G Committee and Staff Biographies
Index