Organ donation: myths and facts

Australia has one of the lowest organ donation rates in the world.

Fact – This is correct. Countries such as Spain and USA have approximately three times the rate of organ donation as Australia does. There are a number of suspected reasons for this.

Overall, few deaths in hospitals occur in such a way that organ donation is possible. The requirements include the donor being in intensive care where a ventilator can artificially keep organs functioning after brain death until they can be donated. Organ donors are commonly people who die from burst blood vessels in the brain (stroke), cardiac arrest, road accidents or injuries such as assault or gunshot wounds. One reason that Australia might have a low level of organ donation is a relatively low level of violent crime and car accidents as well as good work safety practices compared with other countries.

In Australia, the consent of the family is a legal requirement for organ donation to proceed. The current strategy to increase organ donations rates in Australia is to increase the rate at which families consent. A recent national campaign by DonateLife encouraged people to discuss their wishes about organ donation with their families so it is easier for them to make a decision, should the need arise.

Hospitals get cash incentives for organ donations, leading them to keep alive critically ill patients who would not normally be revived.

Myth – This myth stems from a controversial newspaper article which was coincidentally published at the start of the 2010 Organ Donation Awareness Week. The article implied that people were being put under pressure to agree to organ donation while a member of their family was dying, so that the hospital could receive a cash bonus. This article was unfortunately very misleading. The funding referred to is called Activity Based Funding, a new funding scheme to both private and public hospitals which contributes to the additional staffing, bed and surgery costs associated with organ donation. The purpose of this fund is to make sure that cost is not a barrier to organ donation proceeding. It is not a cash bonus, but a refund for costs incurred in the process.

A further issue raised in this article was the idea of pressure being put on families while loved ones were dying. Organ donation co-ordinators, who talk to families of potential donors, never approach a family until after the person has died. They take a careful approach which does not include coercion or pressure. If a family makes a decision not to proceed with organ donation, this is respected. The organ donation co-ordinators are medical professionals who do a very difficult but important job, and which saves thousands of lives each year in Australia.

Emergency room staff won’t work as hard to save the life of a registered organ donor

Myth – A study by the Queensland University of Technology found that 10 per cent of people did not want to join the Organ Donor register because they didn’t trust doctors and thought they might not receive proper medical care if their lives were in danger. In reality, emergency room staff are responsible only for the lives of their patients and don’t ask whether their patients are registered. It is the transplant specialist who is concerned with the lives of transplant recipients.

Donors are not truly dead when their organs are removed.

Myth – There has been some controversy around the technical process by which brain death is determined, with some doctors raising concerns that are however not shared by the majority of intensive care specialists in Australia. Unfortunately this debate over technical medical issues has made headline news leading to claims that donors are not truly dead when their organs are removed.

In reality, a person’s death is confirmed by two doctors in exactly the same way it normally is, regardless of whether organ donation is an option.

http://www.microbiol.unimelb.edu.au/
http://www.donatelife.gov.au/