Myths & Misconceptions
From the grocery store tabloids to talk radio to popular TV programs and movies, Americans are subjected to a constant bombardment of misconception and fiction about tissue and organ donation and transplantation. These stories and shows can be very entertaining, but they also create confusion in the public mind and frustration for medical professionals.
People must have the facts in order to make informed decisions about donation. Approximately 100,000 Americans wait for organ transplants and thousands more need life-enhancing tissue donation. 90% of Americans say they support donation, but only 30% know the essential steps to take to be a donor. By separating fact from fiction, Americans will be better prepared to make the donation decisions for themselves and their loved ones.
Fiction
It is the people who have the most money or the most publicity that receive the organs.
Fact
Factors such as race, gender, age, income or celebrity status are never considered when determining who receives an organ. The organ allocation and distribution system is based on many factors including blood type, length of time on the waiting list, geographical location, severity of illness and other medical criteria.
Fiction
Donation is against religious beliefs.
Fact
All major religions support organ and tissue donation. The best advice is to discuss any questions about donation with a member of the clergy or your spiritual leader.
Fiction
Cataracts, poor vision and age would limit the likelihood that a person could be an eye donor.
Fact
Anyone can be an eye donor. Cataracts, poor eyesight, or age would not prohibit a person from being an eye donor. It is important for individuals wanting to be donors to inform family members of their wishes.
Fiction
Your medical illness or age makes you ineligible to be a donor.
Fact
Virtually anyone-regardless of age, race, gender and even many health conditions-can become an organ and tissue donor. When the time comes, the appropriate medical professionals will review your medical and social histories to determine whether or not you can be a donor.
Fiction
People can buy and sell organs.
Fact
It is a federal crime under the National Organ Transplant Act (Public Law 98-507) to sell organs. Organ donation in this country is managed by non-profit organ procurement organizations (OPOs) that are certified and monitored by the federal Health Care Financing Administration. Tissue banks, which process, preserve and distribute tissue to transplant programs, must be registered with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Fiction
Doctors may not try to save a person’s life so they can transplant their organs to other patients.
Fact
The doctors who treat a patient at the time of death are in no way involved with transplant programs or potential recipients. Donor organizations serve as the intermediaries between attending physicians and hospitals where a donation occurs and the transplant programs and transplant teams. Hospitals will notify donor organizations when a potential donor is identified, and donation is considered only after every effort has been made to save the patient’s life.
Fiction
Doctors might take organs before the patient is really dead.
Fact
Most fears about donation come from misunderstanding of brain death. Organs can be donated only after brain death is diagnosed and declared in a hospital.
After brain death occurs, the body can be maintained for a short time by mechanical support systems before the organs begin to deteriorate. This is not “life support.” When on mechanical support, the body has color and is warm to the touch, but it is not alive. If brain death is not clearly and completely explained, family members may be confused. But the fact is that brain death is not a coma. Brain death is irreversible. Brain death is death.
Tissue and cornea donation is possible after brain death or cardio-respiratory (heart-lung) death. This means that there are more opportunities for people to become tissue and cornea donors because mechanical support is not required to maintain tissues for transplant.
No donation can happen until a declaration of death has been made and the family of the donor has given consent.
Fiction
It costs money to donate.
Fact
Donation is a gift. It costs the donor family nothing. All the costs associated with the recovery of donated organs, tissues and corneas are charged to the donor program.
The donor’s family is only responsible for the costs of medical treatment prior to death and for funeral expenses, just as they would be if there were no donation.
Fiction
Donating organs, tissues and corneas disfigures the body. A donor cannot have an open casket funeral.
Fact
Donation does not disfigure the body. Because the body is not disfigured, donation will not interfere with funeral plans for open casket services.
Most donations are performed in operating room, and the donor is treated with the same care as a surgery patient. After donation, the body is carefully reconstructed to normal appearance. The donation coordinators provide funeral directors with detailed information so the body can be prepared for burial with no complications.
Fiction
Donation will delay the funeral.
Fact
In general, organ, tissue and corneal donation takes place within 24 hours after a declaration of death. Cooperative efforts are discussed by the funeral directors and donation coordinators to ensure that funeral plans are not delayed.
Fiction
Transplants do not really work. They are just experimental.
Fact
Transplantation is now regarded as standard medical practice for a constantly increasing number of conditions. Americans receive more than 25,000 solid organ transplants and 1,000,000 tissue transplants annually. Corneal transplants are by far the most frequently performed human transplant procedure.
Tissue and corneal transplants offer effective treatment for an extraordinary range of conditions. Donated tissues and corneas are used to restore sight, mobility and heart action; to speed healing; to repair damaged skin, bone and muscle; and to prevent amputation of limbs damaged by cancer, infections and injuries.
