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Hundreds of Australians die for want of organs

David Koch

by David Koch

01 Feb 05:50am

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Filed under: Children, Donatelife, Donors, Health, Medical, Organ Donation, Transplant

132 comments

I’m passionate about organ transplants in Australia and I reckon you should be as well.

Scarlett McGowan had a life-saving heart transplant. Pic: Alex Coppel

Australia has had a terrible history of underperformance when it comes to organ and tissue transplants when compared with most other developed countries.

It has simply been un-Australian. The bottom line is that lives have been lost unnecessarily. Fortunately there are early signs we’re starting to turn that disgraceful underperformance around. But a lot more needs to be done. A lot more. And each and everyone of you has a role to play.

I’m the first to admit progress has been slower than we would have liked. I would have loved for there to have been a silver bullet but that’s just plain unrealistic.

Establishing and staffing a new National Authority from scratch, which will be sustainable, takes time. Getting each individual state health department to sign up and unify their different cultures takes time. Safeguarding taxpayer’s money also means you need to progress carefully.

There were 309 deceased donations in Australia in 2010. This is the highest result ever achieved in Australia. The 2010 total exceeds the totals for both 2008 (259) and 2009 (247). In percentage terms, the 2010 results exceed 2008 results by 19.3 per cent (2008 was the previous highest donation year in Australia) and 2009 results by 25.1 per cent.

It’s a good start but you hope it would be like that considering a new co-ordinated system has been put in place and a lot of money spent on it.

I always like to benchmark against the world leading countries. While we are a long way off their totals, we do stack up against their early results after they implemented their own national reforms:

  • Australia’s improvement in its first full year of reforms saw an increase of 2.5 dpmp (donors per million people).
  • The UK achieved an increase of 1.5 dpmp in its first full year of reforms.
  • Spain, seen as the world leader in this sector, also achieved an increase of 2.5 dpmp.

The challenge is to now make sure we maintain a similar momentum to become the best in the world.

I became interested in Organ Transplants when I was approached by a terrific community group of medical practitioners and business people called ShareLife. The group had trawled the globe to find world’s best practice in the area and mapped out a way how Australia could get there.

I was stunned at how bad we were. Australian lives were being lost needlessly because we didn’t have a co-ordinated unifying system.

To give you some idea, Spain, France and the US had double the transplant rate of Australia. If we can get to those levels the lives of 100 extra Australians a month would be saved.

It’s a mindboggling thought isn’t it. One hundred Australian lives were lost because we weren’t up there with world’s best practice.

A lot is made of the waiting list for organ transplants which is at 1700 people. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Many doctors won’t even put their patients on the waiting list because they know they’ll die waiting.

Last year we made some headway in narrowing that gap and saved extra lives. But that’s not enough. There’s more to do and more lives to help.

Our donation rate is up to 13.8 dpmp but Spain is over 30 dpmp. Yes - Spain took 10 years after the introduction of National Reforms to get to its current level, now it’s up to us to get there quicker.

What really struck me was we had the highest number of registered organ donors (per head of population) in the world but the lowest transplant rate. Something was happening in the middle.

I felt betrayed. I was a registered organ donor and I felt let down by a system that seemed to disrespect my goodwill.

It was heart wrenching to visit the Children’s Hospital in Melbourne during the annual Good Friday Appeal and see bubbly bright eyed kids waiting for a transplant only to be told they would probably die waiting.

I joined the ShareLife group and Sunrise became a strong campaigner for change.

There were 2 fundamental issues which became obvious;

  • A hospital system with a disjointed focus on organ donation and an ineffective system of identifying registered organ donors and matching them with recipients.
  • Registered organ donors not discussing their decision with family. No matter whether you are a registered organ donor or not, your family has the final say on what is to done after your death. It’s important to let them know of your wishes to donate your organs.

In January 2008 I managed to catch Prime Minister Kevin Rudd for a beer and laid out the facts about our appalling history. He was stunned. As a recipient of a transplanted human heart valve, he owed his life to the generosity of someone else and their family.

The 2008 Federal Budget allocated $151 million over 4 years for the establishment of the Australian Organ and Tissue Authority.

The official start date was January 2009 and that first year was spent establishing offices, hiring staff, developing strategies and negotiating agreements with each of the States on how they had to change their systems in order to qualify for funding.

It involved establishing the new national clinical network of over 150 doctors and nurses located in 74 major hospitals around the country dedicated to improving organ and tissue donation and raising awareness about organ donation in hospitals. 

I was invited to walk the talk and join the Advisory Council of the Authority and to also chair the audit committee. Unfortunately, that decision has alienated me from ShareLife. They took the view that unless ShareLife could control the Authority then they wouldn’t participate but instead would monitor and assess from the outside.

I’m still a great admirer of the people in ShareLife, and the work they do, but my philosophy is it’s better to work for change from within the system rather than from without. For me 2009 was both frustrating and an eye opener. I was used to being a small businessperson where if you want to make changes you just go ahead and do it.

Not so in the public sector.

Government is a big company and it’s not perfect. The Organ and Tissue Authority got in to trouble and was quite rightly chastised for cutting procedural corners in that first year. Also the way an audit committee reports to the chief executive rather than an outside independent body still has me baffled and should be changed.

But like any new organisation mistakes have been made and the learning curve has been steep.

The States have had to be wooed, cajoled and whipped in to line with mixed success. That’s the downside of a Federation.

Results are the ultimate test. For us results are saving lives.

In the first full year of operation the results are acceptable without being brilliant. They never will be until we’re the best in the world.

All states other than South Australia, Western Australia and Northern Territory recorded their highest annual result in the past decade, with the 98 deceased donations in Victoria being the highest jurisdictional total ever recorded.

Victorians, take a bow. But if you live in South Australia, Western Australia or Northern Territory you might like to ask your local member, or health minister or local hospital why aren’t they performing as well as other states in saving lives when they have similar funding.

I acknowledge the States do have a tough task because they have to reach down in to every hospital to change culture and systems. But that’s what the funding is for and the Authority is there to help.

Letting the states know we’re all watching their performance will hopefully entice them to lift their game.

We can all do our own individual bit to help as well. Sitting down with your family and explaining your wishes to become an organ donor will assist enormously when that decision has to be made.

There are some terrific fact sheets which burst the many myths surrounding organ transplants at www.donatelife.gov.au.

Visit Kochie’s blog here.

Most commented

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336Animal experiments won't cure me from cancer
313Thomson didn't answer the question everyone is asking
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231South Australia. It's the middle bottom bit.
231Craig Thomson speaks. Meanwhile, in Australia...

132 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • KH says:

      06:35am | 01/02/11

      I have told my family - give away what you can, burn the rest.  I’ll be dead - what will I want with it???!!!!!

      Reply

    • fairsfair says:

      09:51am | 01/02/11

      We are the same. We have had the dinner table conversation and though it is not really something anyone wants to think about - we did it and we don’t ever have to talk about it again.

      We have also had the roadside memorial chat and our own views of what our funeral should be. For example, I don’t want a cross or fake flowers on the side of the road should I ever be killed in a car accident.

      Yes it is morbid, but having an idea of what your loved one wants done at the time and following their death would be a great relief. Humans just don’t want to confront their own mortality, but it is something we should do and not feel uneasy about.

    • AFR says:

      12:47pm | 01/02/11

      I also added for them to never visit my grave. Last thing I would want is them to be talking to concrete.

    • Chloe says:

      07:03am | 01/02/11

      Organ donation is very important and the question posed by a person I saw on a television thing about organ donation was one that resonated with me and I’m already a donor!

      If you are prepared to recieve an organ should you need it, why are you not prepared to give one?

      Please everybody tell your next of kin your decision as they are the ones that will have the final say. You don’t need your organs after you pass on, but there are many who need them here, adults and children alike.

      Reply

    • acotrel says:

      05:57pm | 01/02/11

      I’m grateful the Vic government stopped the ‘black spot’ garbage.  High risk areas on roads are the responsibilty of the authorities, they have a duty of care which involves minimising the risk!

    • Graham says:

      10:33pm | 01/02/11

      I am happy to donate my organs. Sad for the 100 who died because of the lack of donations. However, I also am sad for the thousands of children who are aborted for what ever reason.

    • David LD says:

      07:04am | 01/02/11

      Make organ donation opt-out instead of opt-in.

      Those that have a particular conviction to retain all of their organs after death can continue to do so. Those that have no strong conviction either way have the opportunity to help others beyond their own.

      Obviously this is too simple an idea and we’ll all be told how it’s un-Christian to help others… or something.

      Reply

    • Dave says:

      07:39am | 01/02/11

      Ttotally agree with your comment David LD.

    • aliquis says:

      08:04am | 01/02/11

      Even in an opt-out system, the next-of-kin’s consent would be required before organ retrieval could take place. Families will generally push for organ donation if they know it is what their loved one wanted. The attitude is very different when they are not sure or have not had a discussion about organ donation prior to death. Families may assume that if their loved one had never mentioned it, then maybe they weren’t interested in donating their organs.

      Furthermore, even if you are a registered organ donor, your family can override this decision at the time of your death and opt not to proceed with donation. This is why the MOST important thing to do is DISCUSS donation with your loved ones. This is the single most powerful tool in increasing organ, tissue and eye donation. Families - not medical/nursing/donation/transplantation staff are the most important people to speak to about your wishes.

      Forget about national reforms - just have a conversation.

    • Catherine says:

      09:27am | 01/02/11

      If the deceased has agreed to be an organ donor why does next of kin have to have the final say?

      My brother was in a car crash a few years ago. He was taken to hospital in a critical condition and died in emergency. Because the crash was interstate it took a number of hours for us to be notified of his death. Organ donation was out of the question by the time we found out he had died.

      He was a registered organ donor. Had next of kin approval not been required, his healthy, 22-year-old organs could have been used to help other people. One of my first questions upon being told of his death was can his organs be used? It was distressing to know that because of the time elapsed it was not possible.

      If an adult has made an informed decision to be a donor, why should another family member have the right to overrule that decision.

    • Ryan says:

      10:36am | 01/02/11

      An opt-out system would imply that the government owns you, whatever next, a bar code across the forehead?

    • KH says:

      10:41am | 01/02/11

      Catherine - that is an awful situation.  I’m sorry about your brother - but I am confused - if you are a registered organ donor the family still needs to give consent? I thought it was a done deal if you have registered…...

    • aliquis says:

      11:19am | 01/02/11

      Catherine, there are a couple of reasons why an organ donor registration can be overruled by family.

      1. If a person expressly objects to organ donation at some point in their lives, then ethically it is not an option to proceed with donation. If a person registers and then changes his/her mind (but does not de-register) only the family are able to communicate this. Who is to say if someone has not changed their minds?

      2. Even though you may have registered, at the end of the day you are the one that is dead - your family and your loved ones have to live with the decision and knowledge that organs/tissues/eyes have been donated. If this is an unbearable thought for families, it would be unreasonable to proceed with donation and risk serious psychological harm to surviving family members.

      As I mentioned before, communicating with your family can help to prevent these situations - if a family member knows one’s donation wishes (prior to finding out at the very stressful time of death) then they will be better informed and prepared to make those decisions at what is a very difficult time - meaning that a registered organ donor’s wishes are more likely to be met.

    • spider says:

      03:19pm | 01/02/11

      @aliquis, what do you mean the family “has to live with the decision”?  Yeah, they also have to live with their loved one being dead, which is usually undesirable to them too yet not something they have to accept as being outside their control.  They do not have ownership over our bodies just by virtue of being “family”, hypothetical irrational neurosis over organ donation notwithstanding.  Sometimes we just can’t force our will on other people simply for being related to us, even if they are dead.

    • aliquis says:

      03:36pm | 01/02/11

      Spider, if you are in hospital and say, in a coma, who has the right to make medical decisions for you? Your next-of-kin perhaps? And after you are dead, I’m pretty sure your problems are all over. Your family continue living their lives - I’m not implying that they have “ownership” over your body while you are alive, but once you are dead you’re not exactly in any state to start making grand decisions about what happens to your remains - your family does. If you found out your loved one’s body was say, being experimented on without your knowledge I doubt you’d be too happy about it, even if you were all for medical research - the same goes for organ donation, it’s the family who need to make decisions - even in an opt-out system. 

      Please don’t try to sensationalise what I’m saying - once you’re dead, you’re dead. The ones left behind need to make a decision they can cope with.

    • Syl says:

      04:17pm | 01/02/11

      aliquis

      “if you are in hospital and say, in a coma, who has the right to make medical decisions for you? Your next-of-kin perhaps? And after you are dead, I’m pretty sure your problems are all over. Your family continue living their lives - I’m not implying that they have “ownership” over your body while you are alive, but once you are dead you’re not exactly in any state to start making grand decisions about what happens to your remains - your family does.”

      Rubbish.
      If you are in a coma, you are unable to make those decisions, and your family are making those decision in (hopefully) your best interests.  They are making those decisions in the absence of your opinion, and are unable to ask you.
      If you have died, and are a registered organ donor, you have already made that decision.  You have willingly and purposely decided that you wish to be an organ donor.  Your family should not have the right to reverse a decision that you yourself have already chosen to make with your own body.

    • bleD says:

      05:48pm | 01/02/11

      Apart from making opt-in as the default (unless the person has decided to opt-out while in possession of all his/her faculties), the law needs to be changed so that the family have no say in what happens to your body—provided you have expressly stated so before your death. You should carry a card in your wallet stating your declaration.

    • aliquis says:

      07:12am | 02/02/11

      Look, I’m not saying I agree or disagree with the right a family has to reverse a decision - I’m just trying to explain the rationale behind why this is the case, since so many people are clearly confused by this. I think it’s a very complex issue, so I don’t think it’s as black and white as people would like it to be.

      To add fuel to the fire, you may be interested to know that you can put yourself on the organ donor register indicating that you do NOT want any organs donated (or specific organs - you may be willing to donate a kidney, but not your skin for instance). In this case the family cannot reverse this decision - i.e. they can overrule a ‘yes’ to donate but not a ‘no’.

      Thoughts?

    • Dave says:

      07:42am | 01/02/11

      The other problem is that family get to veto the decision of the donor. If the donor has made the decision to donate then those left should not have the power to override those wishes!!!!! I have told my wife and children that under no circumstances are my wishes to be ignored or I will come back and haunt them for life. The only thing they can’t touch is my brain which is not to be used for research purposes.

      Great article Kochie. More people need to be aware of this issue and stop being selfish. When I go at least a part of me will live on

      Reply

    • Ms Manx says:

      09:05am | 01/02/11

      This is the root of the problem, it doesn’t matter what your wishes are your family has the power to override them, Until Organ donation is made compulsory unless you state otherwise on your driving licence etc. donation rates will continue to be low.

    • Ryan says:

      10:38am | 01/02/11

      How is not donating “selfish” its people like you that make me not want to donate, the same as the “make it compulsory” group, my body, my decision and I find it offensive that you people think it is ok to make out like people who decide not to for whatever their reason are “selfish”. The people who do donate are selfless and should be lauded for their selfless act, not the other way around.

    • Ron says:

      11:57am | 01/02/11

      This is the biggest problem, If I decide to donate my organs I do not (and the law should not) give a flying **** what my family think about it.

    • Maggie says:

      05:03pm | 01/02/11

      So what are you going to do with those organs, Ryan?
      Bury them?
      Cremate them?
      All while people who desperately need them are dying, every day. Holding on to something you don’t need at the expense of others sounds pretty selfish to me.

    • Jen says:

      07:52am | 01/02/11

      ‘It has simply been un-Australian’.  hmmmmm!  That is simply emotional blackmail Mr Koch.  Organ donation has nothing to do with being patriotic/ un-patriotic.  Geez!  Its a personal decision and the most important post humous one we get to make.  If people don’t elect to donate, then so be it!
      For me its like fine - I am happy to donate my organs.  However, and god forbid, if I had to make that decision for one of my children, I couldn’t say or nay at this time.  I will only make that decision if I am forced to:(  When the time is right and as they grow into adults I will make a conscious effort to discuss the issue with them and any decision they make I will stand by it.  I thankyou for raising that awareness for me.

      Reply

    • Rose says:

      11:16am | 01/02/11

      After a friend of my 20 year old son died following a failed transplant I had ‘the chat’ with all of my children, including my then 10 year old son. Every one of my children opted to be a donor and I made a commitment to them that I would not go against their wishes. With my 10 year old, I figured if he was old enough to understand how someone who he knew would die if they didn’t receive the transplant (and did eventually die after a transplant which maybe came too late) he was old enough to make a choice. The conversation wasn’t morbid or heavy, we were in the car and were talking about Daniel’s death and I just slipped in a question, ‘if something were to happen to you would you like your organs to help some one like Daniel?’ His positive and considered response proved to me yet again that some times kids are much more switched on than we give them credit for.

    • Rose says:

      11:23am | 01/02/11

      The term un-Australian generally makes me switch off and ignore the person who used the term. It is so inappropriate to try and support what is ultimately your personal opinion (whatever the topic) by trying to claim you have the legitimacy and backing of an entire nation. It is incredibly lazy and egotistical to use this as justification of a point of view. Truth be told there is only one criteria to determine your ‘Australian-ness’ and that is citizenship, anything after that is personal opinion, nothing more, nothing less.

    • jane says:

      03:45pm | 01/02/11

      Rose, i too tune out to anyone who states that something is un-Australian . According to those who use it, we should all be saints in the name of our country. Organ donation is no different to blood donation. I used to give blood until my health gave way, does it now make me un-Australian because i don’t donate? I am an organ donor and so are the other members of my family. That is because we choose to be and has nothing to do with us being good little Aussies.

    • Adam Diver says:

      08:00am | 01/02/11

      “Registered organ donors not discussing their decision with family. No matter whether you are a registered organ donor or not, your family has the final say on what is to done after your death. It’s important to let them know of your wishes to donate your organs. “

      Here is the issue. Firstly we can’t have an opt-out system because we worry about individual liberties. But then when you die, suddenly your liberties are not worth anything and your family has control over your choices.

      Firstly we have an opt-out system, and secondly whatever option is chosen is respected after death. This is such a non-issue its not funny.

      Reply

    • Fred Bloggs says:

      08:13am | 01/02/11

      Just hang in there Koch, the organs I’ve got I’ll need to keep me upright. I’m 72 years old, and when I kark it, all me bits will be too buggered to be of any use to anyone, so get off your high horse and put some ‘conditions apply’ in your blurb.

      Reply

    • Reg says:

      08:50pm | 01/02/11

      Fred, me too. I’m sure the medications I’ve been on have buggered just about every other organ in my body besides my heart. It’s been back-firing and racing for decades. Then there’s my Thyroid that is so over-active I’ve had horse trainers sidle up and look carefully about. They do tell me though that there a great export market in shin bones and skeletal remains.

      I think a lot of Aussies have the same cringe about their bodies as their minds. “Shit ... no bastard would want my grubby bits.”

      Anyhow an International Medi-alert tag should hold the information about donations. It only costs money. I can’t believe that some would put qualifications on the use of their organs. Saying that they should never go to anyone who is not also a donor is not far from saying you will not agree to a certain race having them.

      Now if I was beamed up and then spat out by a Martian jelly man I might be a little cross.

    • Elphaba says:

      08:13am | 01/02/11

      “It has simply been un-Australian.”

      I hate it when people bandy this about.  It’s a choice.  The individuals rights should be respected.  Last time I checked, I lived in a free country and could make my own decisions about my life.

      I am definitely pro-organ donation.  But you calling people ‘UnAustralian’ for not doing it isn’t helping the situation.  Compassion - look it up. Sensationalism - stop it.

      Reply

    • Gen Y says:

      08:39am | 01/02/11

      I agree - it has nothing to do with being Australian or not.  Having said that, if people wish to opt out simply because they do not wish for their organs to be donated, then they should absolutely NOT be allowed to receive organs from anyone else.  Put it this way, I wouldn’t want my organs going to someone who is not also a donor.  This ought to be standard, or at the very least, it is something I should be able to stipulate on my registration form.

    • Elphaba says:

      09:19am | 01/02/11

      @GenY, that’s fair enough.  Demonstrate the intention, and of course in conjunction with lifestyle (ie, you’re not going to trash the organ), I can understand that.  And I definitely think that the veto ability of the next-of-kin needs to be removed.  And I am all for organ donation - I have a relative and a friend who at some point, will require organ donations.  But it is still a choice, free and clear, and calling people names (from a two-bit hack, no less) is uncalled for.

      WTF does Un-Australian mean, anyway?  I’m am so sick of that term…

    • N says:

      12:11pm | 01/02/11

      Agree with the Un-Australian crap. Koshie; you call it Un-Australian not to donate then in a paragraph later go on to say that Spain increased its donor rate 30%. Since Spain is another country, wouldn’t this be un-Australian, and therefore contrary to your initial implication?

      I’m a donor, as is the rest of my family; if people want my worn out organs when I’m done with them, by all means form a queue. While I agree this is a free country and others are entitled to do as they like and not donate, I’m confused as to how you come to the decision not to. Is it just pure laziness in failing to fill out the appropriate forms and let your family know your intent, or something else, religious or otherwise?

      A fellow poster, ‘Ryan’ has time and again throughout this article, made it very clear he’s anti organ donation, so I’m curious to understand why? Each to their own of course, but there should be some reason for deciding one way or another. Perhaps he’s looking to give the worms a better feast once in the ground?

    • Elphaba says:

      12:52pm | 01/02/11

      @N - ick.  Burial.  No thanks.

      Burn baby, burn… wink

    • Fighter says:

      08:17am | 01/02/11

      My organs are of no use to anyone. I’m one of the 10,000 plus who were given tainted blood in the 80s-early90s. I suffer from Hepatis C, and the damage to my immune system has caused a roll on of chronic illnesses. If there was an opt out system and my family weren’t there, would they take my organs and consign other people to the hell my life becomes at times?

      Reply

    • maybe says:

      09:49am | 01/02/11

      No, they screen the organs.  I’m sure the information you just stipulated is present in your medical documentation.

    • Lisa H. says:

      10:59am | 01/02/11

      Every now and then there is a tragedy, as in the UK where a soldier whose lungs were damaged was given a lung transplant from a heavy smoker, contracted cancer and died.

    • Reg says:

      09:07pm | 01/02/11

      There was the 17 year old US girl who was fitted with a heart that was the wrong blood type. But hell there were others who cut off the wrong leg and another that operated on the wrong side of the brain and the Washington hospital that left a 7 inch instrument inside, but that was for the SEVENTH time. There was even one where they took out the wrong testicle “Now was that my right or the patient’s right?”

      Hell now I’m wondering about that plasma transfusion I had. How do I know that some of my chronic problems are not because of that?  If the price is right my enterprising children may decide to capitalise on their dad and pocket his pension.  Tricky!

    • Jane says:

      08:27am | 01/02/11

      I also think the law should be changed so that the living next of kin can not over ride the wishes of the deceased. It should be like your will, a document which binds your next of kin to your decisions on how you want your assets disposed of (after all, in life you body is your most valuable asset so it should be considered an asset after death too) that can only be over ruled by court action.

      In this case if your family is willing to put you on ice for an indefinate period, pay for keeping you on ice, not bury you till the decision is finalised, then yes they can contest your wishes, if not your wishes stand.

      Reply

    • Felicity says:

      03:12pm | 14/03/11

      There is already a relevant document which you can write up with a lawyer: an Advance Health Directive.

    • Anne says:

      08:33am | 01/02/11

      I’d be interested in seeing a figure such as “donors per thousand viable deaths”.  In other words, counting only those who die in circumstances where donation is possible.  All of my family are registered donors but unless we die in certain circumstances (from my understanding, in hospital on a ventilator to keep organs alive), the actual organs that can be harvested is very limited.  I sometimes wonder if factors in Australia, including our geography which means potential donors may be more isolated from suitable hospitals than in other countries, has an impact.

      Another option, of course, is to consider donating your body to scientific research or even to a university to help train medical students.

      Reply

    • Ange says:

      12:01pm | 01/02/11

      Great point Anne. There may be thousands on the register but with our relatively small population and few accidental deaths (assuming deaths by disease rule out organ donation) then it would appear more a case of numbers rather than complacency.

      Equally though I do think we need to change the system which gives the family the final say. I would be furious if I thought my family went against my wishes for what ever reason. Surely the last word about the fate of my body should rest with me.

    • meredith says:

      08:41am | 01/02/11

      I totally support organ donation but what i really get up set about is people who say they would not donate organs but if they needed one or a family member needed an organ to survive then they expect to get one!
      To this day i still can not underdstand how anyone could take an organ but not every want to donate there own!  Its so wrong on so many levels!
      As that old saying goes ” you cant take your organs with you heaven knows we need them ”

      Reply

    • freddy says:

      09:32am | 01/02/11

      mmm…yes that is precisely what it means by UN OZZZTRALIANS.  don’t worry , karma will bite fast and furious soon enough.

    • SNJ says:

      08:41am | 01/02/11

      I may be barking up the wrong tree, but what would be the possibility of applying some financial incentive to organ donorship?  Perhaps increasing the medicare rebate for organ donors?  It’s a dreadful thing to say, but with everyone struggling financially these days, financial incentives get results.  Personally, I’m an organ donor for the right reason: If I want to be saved by a donated organ if I need one, of course it’s appropriate to donate myself.  My family are well aware of my decision, too.  I hear people say they won’t do it because they don’t want their organs to go to someone unworthy… I guess that’s the personal risk you take, albeit low, and really, a pathetic excuse anyway.

      Reply

    • Obviously says:

      10:38am | 01/02/11

      Hmm, financial incentive?  Black market organs…  You can cause a whole bunch of problems with a price on human organs.

      As for pathetic excuse, well that’s my excuse.  Didn’t you read the story about a year ago? 
      <http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/mp/6850483/dying-drug-addict-refused-second-liver-transplant>

      That’s why.

    • Second chance says:

      01:48pm | 01/02/11

      So because of one isolated case of possible abuse of the system you will deny all people the use of your organs on your death?

      Seems like your punishing every potential donor recipient for the actions of one person.

      Anyways your choice but I would ask that you at least reconsider your position and possibly visit/talk to a few people waiting on organ transplants before continuing with your decision.

    • living on borrowed time now! says:

      08:42am | 01/02/11

      I also wont donate my organs, my family has a genetic time bomb of cancer. All my family died of it. I cant bear the idea that my organs would cause more grief and harm to a family already suffering. However I am quite happy for my corneas and other things such as bone, muscle and skin to be used. I would also be delighted if my parts were used for research into the disease that has killed off my entire family. I think that would be a bigger gift to the world than my poxy liver or lungs.

      Reply

    • Sam says:

      08:45am | 01/02/11

      Only 309 deceased donations? That is pathetic. Why do people feel the need to hold onto something when they are dead. I understand it is a personal choice, but you are DEAD! Stop being princesses and give someone else a chance at life.

      Reply

    • Leigh says:

      09:31am | 01/02/11

      It isnt about being a princess for me- it is about my personal beliefs. Perhaps you didnt think of that before posting and judging.

    • AFR says:

      10:19am | 01/02/11

      Leigh, no problem, as long as you, or a near relative, never accept an organ if one is needed, you can enjoy your beliefs.

    • Lisa H. says:

      11:03am | 01/02/11

      Interesting to see all the ‘pro donation’ people happy to give conditional gifts, and laying terms on who should and should not receive an organ.

      If non-donating people are ‘not allowed’ to receive an organ (if indeed they want one), perhaps drug addicts or people suffering other illnesses should not receive one?

      It seems childish to put conditions - apart from medical ones - on the gift of life.

      There are sometimes complications to receiving an organ, as well…it’s not always a totally positive outcome and some people require several ‘donations’ of the afflicted organ.

      Or perhaps the conditional givers might draw the line at one organ transplant per person?

    • Quack of Watch City says:

      12:31pm | 01/02/11

      @Sam, I would happily donate if it meant the organs were going to children or adults who are ill due to misfortune. I don’t like the thought of my healthy, well taken care of organs going to someone who knowingly abused their body. Sorry, no second chances.

      I don’t feel an ounce of guilt putting conditions on my organs. They are mine after all! It has nothing to do with being a ‘princess’. Would you not put conditions on what a person can do with your belongings? Why should it be any different with organ donation?

      As for approving organ donation for my child? Truth be told, I couldn’t. I can’t let someone literally butcher my child, dead or not. It would kill me psychologically. So no, I could never approve for organ donation for my child UNLESS said child was an adult and it was their wish to do so. Then I’d have to honour their decision and put my own beliefs aside.

      My sibling is registered as an organ donor and I will honour his wish if the unfortunate should happen.

    • Jasper says:

      04:04pm | 01/02/11

      Well Quack, what if the blood that I donate on a regular basis goes to keeping alive a pompous, holier than thou, pain in the backside? What if, when I die, my organs go to a mouth breather, bogan or Liberal voter? It’s not about picking and choosing where your contribution goes, it is about giving because it’s needed. Your hesitancy to donate in case it doesn’t go to the “right” sort of person could mean that a potential nobel prize winner dies too young before they had a chance to make a positive influence on the world. Would you hesitate to accept an organ donation to save your child’s life?

      I bet you get on your high horse about where “Your Taxes” are spent too.

    • Sam says:

      09:22am | 01/02/11

      The only thing that should stop people from donating (provided they have healthy organs to part with) is religion, and i totally understand that for some entering their second life (so to speak) in one piece is important. But like many I am non-religous and will be doing my part, good to see someone write about something that can lead to greater awareness of a problem that deserves attention and not the typical tripe we are fed daily through other media sources

      Reply

    • KH says:

      12:04pm | 01/02/11

      So, lets say you lose a leg in a car accident.  By the reasoning of religion does that mean you go to your ‘second life’ with one leg?  How about if you were blind in life - do you remain blind for all time?  I thought it was the other way - you got all fixed up for your ‘second life’......in which case it wouldn’t matter if you gave away organs?  Then there is the small matter of your rotting corpse here on earth - clearly not being used for anything - what does that mean? .....and what about people who are cremated?  Do they go to their ‘second life’ in an urn?  Can anyone explain this to me?  Thanks…..appreciate it…....

    • Richard says:

      01:32pm | 01/02/11

      Well, I can only speak for my own personal spiritual beliefs, but I happen believe that the body is not just a mechanistic organism completely separate from the mind and the spirit. I believe that body, mind and spirit are all a harmoniously united whole, and when I die I want to my body to be buried fully intact and not plundered of its organs by a gang of aspiritual medico-pirates.

    • Ben C says:

      02:36pm | 01/02/11

      What about health issues? Would you want to subject the person receiving your organs to the same problems as you? Things such as cancer, hepatitis, or in my case, G6PD?

    • Stephy says:

      03:20pm | 01/02/11

      “So, lets say you lose a leg in a car accident.  By the reasoning of religion does that mean you go to your ‘second life’ with one leg?  How about if you were blind in life - do you remain blind for all time?  I thought it was the other way - you got all fixed up for your ‘second life’......in which case it wouldn’t matter if you gave away organs?  Then there is the small matter of your rotting corpse here on earth - clearly not being used for anything - what does that mean? .....and what about people who are cremated?  Do they go to their ‘second life’ in an urn?  Can anyone explain this to me?  Thanks…..appreciate it….... “

      I’ll do my best, KH, but my opinion will differ from others. Even in religion there are divides, and life after death is a huge one. In Christianity alone, I know of a few different beliefs - we’re all spirits and don’t posess a body, we get raised in a brand new body, we get raised in our old one but with perfection. Depending on who you ask and what they cite as a reference for their beliefs (eg a passage in the Bible), the answer could be anything. Mostly the belief is held that we’re spirits.

      Personally, I believe we’re raised in our old bodies that are perfected to not include any blemishes. This in itself would be a miracle, but it’s God we’re talking about, He does the whole miracle thing.
      Then again, I also believe some not-sanctioned-by-my-denomination theories about the afterlife (and other things, but that’s another topic). So don’t just take my word for it.

    • Reg says:

      08:25am | 02/02/11

      Wow the image of arriving NAKED with one leg at the pearly gates is going to disturb lots of religious on their death-beds.

      Not to mention all those poor WWI soldiers who got blasted into little tiny bits.

    • NEFFA says:

      09:23am | 01/02/11

      when your time is up, your time is up.

      I don’t think organ donation is as much of a problem as modern humans lack of ability to accept death as a part of life. Why do you believe you deserve someone elses organs? why should someone die so you and yours can live? where does this sense of entitlement come from?

      Reply

    • Syl says:

      04:43pm | 01/02/11

      “Why do you believe you deserve someone elses organs? why should someone die so you and yours can live?”

      Uh, they don’t kill people for there organs… what a ridiculous comment.

      Why shouldnt we help people to live if we can.  We use penicillin to save lives everyday, should we just “accept death” and let these people die unnessarily?  If people are willing to donate their organs after their death to those in need how is this a sense of entitlement?

      Your post makes my brain hurt.

    • Brewstermac says:

      09:24am | 01/02/11

      I keep trying to give blood, but as I lived in the UK in 1995 my blood is (apparently) infested with mad cow disease and will kill thousands of Australians and their pets.  So although I have registered to have my organs used they will create hospital wide hysteria when the esky is opened

      Reply

    • Joan says:

      09:32am | 01/02/11

      I have told my family -  not to slice and dice me up when I die like at some abbatoir. . I come to this world and I leave this world as nature meant it to be. If during my life I choose to donate an organ, say a kidney thats another thing.  A friend`s father has had a second chance with heart transplant and 10 years on he is doing well… pumping in drugs daily to maintain. I have also been there at a sad ( and sudden) dying relatives bed asked to donate organs…..while we are in shock at the sudden untimeliness, his impending death we are asked for his body parts.  Each to his own on this….. it is a matter of ones philosophy- the meaning - about what life means to the individual, how they live and how they die….nothing to do about being un-Australian ie nationalism.No way can I chop up and divy out parts of any family, friend member unless they have expressed it as a wish.  I guess life means more than the sum of your bodyparts to most Australians and I`m thankful for that.

      Reply

    • Roy says:

      10:35am | 01/02/11

      Joan - you’ve obviously thought about this and your personal choice deserves to be respected. 
      Would you wish to be the recipient of a donated organ if you needed one to live? 
      Would you wish your a family member - who, say, had never expressly stated an intention to donate - to be the recipient of a donated organ if they needed one to live?

    • Joan says:

      11:44am | 01/02/11

      No, I don’t need another persons body parts to live or prolong my life. I accept my body with all it`s good and its short comings. The body is not a car , that on its death is just used as spare parts . I see my life and body as more than the life of a car.  If a member of family or any member of society wants to give an organ or receive an organ I can accept that. From what I have read even a very young ill child has an understanding ... of life and death and the wiil to live in some people/children is so strong that you can’t deny them that because of my beliefs. Would I accept an organ for a my child a minor ..that`s a hard one…I am at an age when I don’t have to face that question for my children, they can make up their own minds.  I guess I would have to respect the child`s body that is giving and accept that death may come sooner than I want for someone I love,  that is close and dear to me. It`s the way of nature - the way it always has been

    • freddy says:

      11:57am | 01/02/11

      Roy, well put.  for those who keep harping on respecting your wish to die with whole parcel intact, does that translate into not wishing to receiving life saving transplant if (touchwood) you do contract some illness?  come on, be fair and be honest.

    • Richard says:

      01:40pm | 01/02/11

      Yep, it does freddy. I don’t want dismembered aspects of another being’s body/mind/spirit clinging to some limbo-type semblance of life within me. On the other hand, when genetic engineering technology is sufficiently advanced to be able to reproduce my own organs, I would not object to receiving a transplant under those circumstances.

    • laura says:

      09:40am | 01/02/11

      Well of course are going to be low, when the family has the final say. What’s th epoint of putting anything on your license if your family has final say and don’t agree with organ donation? your wishes are null and void. Stupid rule.

      Reply

    • Thommo says:

      09:50am | 01/02/11

      Saying something is Un-Australian is Un-Australian.

      Reply

    • Adam Diver says:

      01:59pm | 01/02/11

      This comment is Un-Australian in fact I would go so far as to say it is pommy-esque

    • OchreBunyip says:

      10:16am | 01/02/11

      Organ donation is already a form of opt-out. If your next of kin decide to donate your organs when you are dead, it is done unless you have a specific statement, for example a known religious prohibition, saying otherwise.

      The reason organ donation should be decided while you are alive is to spare your relatives making the decision at a time which may already be difficult for them. I chose to become a donor for a number of reasons. Given that I have no use for them when I’m dead if they can help another then it seems the sporting thing to do.

      Reply

    • CH says:

      12:16pm | 01/02/11

      No, opt-out means unless otherwise stated your organs will be donated (after passing screening etc etc).

      The current system is opt-in with an overriding veto (which is assumed in the negative). You can opt-in “yes please I wish to donate my organs” but unless your family member signs off your organs will not be donated. That means if they can’t get in touch with you family members within the necessary time period your organs won’t be donated.

      I understand people may not wish to donate organs, but if I say that I want to why should the medical staff have to find someone to back up my stated wishes.

    • OchreBunyip says:

      07:32pm | 01/02/11

      All I can say then is the advertising and documentation for organ donation is misleading. It is not my understanding that my family can veto my decision to donate - it is none of their business now. There must be a way to remove relatives from the donation process if I have already agreed to donate.

    • Un-Australian says:

      10:27am | 01/02/11

      I would donate my organs, if and only if, I knew that they would go to people who deserved them. 
      I do not want my organs to go to someone who’s been a smoker/drinker/druggie and because of their own choices is dying. 
      I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I eat healthy and I take care of my body, so why should my healthy organs go to someone who ruined their own?
      Donating to kids or people with some problem that was caused by bad luck, is fine by me.  But there is no guarantee that a druggie who has destroyed their liver (or whatever) isn’t going to get mine.

      Call me selfish, but I won’t donate until there is a option of donating to people that have at least tried to be healthy (e.g. non- smokers/drinkers/druggies/etc).

      Reply

    • Ryan says:

      11:33am | 01/02/11

      In that case I don’t want my organs going to a Labor or Greens voter.. do you see how stupid that sounds?

    • Matt F says:

      12:00pm | 01/02/11

      not selfish at all. in fact strict criteria concerning exactly what you have said already exists. patients needing an organ transplant have extremely strict rules to follow for exactly the reason you mention

    • Ben C says:

      02:57pm | 01/02/11

      @ Ryan

      Un-Australian’s comment doesn’t sound stupid. Yours does.

      (Although I agree with you not donating to a Greens voter - we can’t donate our brains, and even if we could, why should we donate them to someone who’s going to abuse our rational brain cells with ideas that come from well out of left field?)

    • jane says:

      06:18pm | 01/02/11

      Ryans comment doesn’t sound stupid to me. According to Un-Australian, my flood donation must not go to the uninsured, my blood donation must only go to a healthy person, my charity donations must only go to nice people, in fact, no BAD people ever deserve anything. How up yourself can one person be?

    • Un-Australian says:

      04:56pm | 02/02/11

      Why should bad people get something good?  Why not give the good something good first?  If someone is BAD why should they get a GOOD person’s organs?  (Not that voting different and not having insurance makes you BAD)

      I don’t want my flood donations going to the uninsured, except if they are in Toowoomba - I can understand no flood insurance when you’re at the top of a mountain range. But, I want my donations to go to everyone.  I gave money to people who were flooded, so if water went through your house then take my donations.
      An “act of God” is completely different to choosing to pollute your body with drugs and alcohol.

      Anyone can have my blood and bone marrow, it’s almost a limitless supply, if you don’t take it all at once. 

      There is a difference between being a Greens voter and being addicted to drugs/alcohol/cigarettes.  There are some good policies hiding in the trash that they talk (we do need to look after the environment better), but there is nothing good about killing yourself (or your lives/lungs/kidney/etc) and then wanting a second chance.

    • JT says:

      10:31am | 01/02/11

      As others have said, the family should have no right to override the wishes(registered donor) of the deceased.

      As for the low numbers, let’s allow the government to pay for organs, a set payment fee per healthy organ donated upon death. One this should allow the costs of keeping patients alive long enough for donations to be lessened and two would no doubt drastically increase the number of donations received each year.

      Controversial? no doubt but nothing I’ve ever seen discussed will result in dramatic improvements in organ donation levels. It’s all just tinkering at the edges.

      Reply

    • Jane says:

      11:37am | 01/02/11

      or along that line, give a subsidy to the funeral home of the families choice to cover the cost of the funeral of those who chose to donate - a final thankyou as such

    • DTM says:

      11:21am | 01/02/11

      David a simple check of public available data will show why the South Australian rate has not increased In 2009 SA =33, NSW=10, Qld =11 Vic = 12 donors per million population If all of Australia matched SA’s donation rate there would have been over 700 donors. Also the raw rates from Spain don’t tell you about quality of organ donation or long term outcomes of recipients. There is a need for improvement and it is happening. People from outside the sector seem to think a few simple changes will have a dramatic effect but in reality it is complex and requires hard work

      Reply

    • Jugg says:

      11:25am | 01/02/11

      It should be flipped over on its head:

      Organ donation in this country is compulsory unless people register to not be an organ donor.

      So few people die in circumstances where organs can be taken, this should be the way forward.

      Reply

    • Ryan says:

      11:32am | 01/02/11

      What I am finding appalling is that you people have the opinion that its your right to rip the organs out of me or my families body, you people need to understand that this is a gift and it is not your right, please explain how you think its your right to chop someone up as they near death?

      Reply

    • Scrub Nurseq says:

      12:57pm | 01/02/11

      They are not ‘near’ death, they are already dead. Do some research on brain death.

    • James1 says:

      01:09pm | 01/02/11

      Because it might help another family avoid having to go through the same thing, perhaps?  You need to understand that people who are not in your family also have families that love them, and don’t want to see them die.  And if an organ that you will not be needing any more could effect that, what is your problem with it? 

      I think that many of us are struggling to see what your objection to organ donation is.

    • Ryan says:

      01:44pm | 01/02/11

      @James1: as with my previous post which probably got eaten by the internet gremlins, I have no objection to organ donation, I have an objection to the attitude being purveyed here that its not a gift given out of free will but rather something that you have to opt out of. I don’t see gift giving as an opt-out scheme and I certainly don’t think people who don’t give a gift are ‘selfish’ or ‘un-Australian’.
      What I am trying to say is pull your head in and mind your manners because this spray on this article has been disgusting. I mean if this is the attitude of most Australians (feeling entitled to my gift) I am almost tempted to call up now and cancel my organ donation opt-in.

    • AdamC says:

      01:55pm | 01/02/11

      I am with you, Ryan. Some organ donation advocates are quite ghoulish in their attitude. People’s organs and tissues are not public property and informed, recent consent - along with the agreement of next of kin - should be the absolute minimum requirement for organ harvesting to occur.

    • James1 says:

      02:54pm | 01/02/11

      Thanks Ryan.  That is a very cogent explanation, which I must admit does not come across in your previous posts.

    • notSue says:

      11:32am | 01/02/11

      Do you really understand the realities of organ donation, Kochie? I bet most don’t. I believe it is a noble thing to do, but I also understand the impact on grieving families.

      This is how it works. Your brother, sister, father, mother, child has an accident. They are on life-support, but you are informed that they are brain-dead and that, since they are a registered organ donor, permission is sought for the life -suppor to remain on until the transplant team can retrieve the organs. In other words, you are grieving, but your loved one is in front of you, warm and their chest is rising, their heart is still beating. The don’t look “dead”, but you know that skin, corneas, pancreas, liver, kidneys lungs and heart will be ‘harvested”. This is a shocking reality for most people. I completely understand why many families baulk at the time.

      However, I *do* believe the deceased person’s wishes should be respected and the families should have the opportuinity, if both parties are agreeable, to meeting the recipients of their gift. It helps in the greiveing process a great deal.

      I dislike your anti-Australian emotional blackmail a great deal. No-one should be made to feel guilty about eaht is a highly personal and emotional issue.

      Reply

    • Syl says:

      04:52pm | 01/02/11

      notSue

      Easy fix to the problem you describe (which i agree is not ideal).... remove the need to seek family consent.  If somebody has made the decision to become an organ donor it should not even be brought up with the family.  It should just happen.

      I agree with the Un-Australian sentiment, it is constantly bandied about when describing people’s personal opinion and is a baseless and insulting argument.

    • notSue says:

      05:24pm | 01/02/11

      @ syl. Yes, possibly. However, families are left behind and have to deal with their grief, the deceased is no longer affected. If the family’s objection is profound and it can be ignored, it may push them into paraysing, pathological grief. It’s a tough one, but I’d advocate for the wishes of the patient, (the deceased) in this case and make sure the families are extremely well supported,( which they generally are) after donation.

    • Pete says:

      11:54am | 01/02/11

      As someone working in the medical world, (like a lot of people it would seem) uncomfortable with the process that occurs at end of life when people come asking for organs. I’m not convinced the process is safe. I respect people who have made an extremely clear choice to donate their organs, but I’ve also seen very ill potential organ donors recover from their injuries. Until the process is fail-safe I would never advocate an opt-out system. Also, donating and receiving organs are two completely separate ethical issues: people who connect the two (eg. you can’t receive until you’ve said you’ll donate) are utterly confused.

      Reply

    • Guylian says:

      11:56am | 01/02/11

      I’m a registered organ donor. I carry the card and have told my family and doctor. My mother and brother will respect my wishes - but my father is a miserable jerk who has stated plainly that if it is up to him (and it sounds like the next-of-kin rule means it may be) he will refuse to allow the doctors to use our organs. Why should someone I can’t stand but am related to be allowed to overrule such an important decision? If I Will my belongings to someone else he wouldn’t be allowed to take them, but he’s allowed to decide what happens to my dead body?

      Ditch the next-of-kin rule, hook the organ donor registry database up to every hospital in Australia, and do what the patient wanted, not their next-of-kin.

      Reply

    • notSue says:

      12:07pm | 01/02/11

      I find it interesting that you haven’t published my post about the realities of organ donation and why many families baulk at it at the time. If The Punch is running an advertisement, perhaps they should make that crystal clear. So much for “conversation”.

      Reply

    • notSue says:

      12:26pm | 01/02/11

      Ok you did. I retract my premature objection.

    • Emma says:

      01:02pm | 01/02/11

      I registered as a donor because someone poked a form in front of me at some stage - it was in SA - maybe when I was renewing my drivers license?  The depth of my thinking was “why not?” and I couldn’t think of anything particularly compelling.  I’m really not a fan of the opt out idea - organ donation people are already pretty evangelical about the whole thing.  In fact the most compelling reason I could think of for not donating was sticking my finger up at the moral blackmail of the organ donation industry, but not donating for that reason seemed a bit churlish.  In the end if bits of me are still functional when I die and they can greatly improve someone else’s life then why not share them.  But it really should be my body my choice so far as I am concerned.  I’ll opt out for sure if they try to force it on people.

      I’m glad families get the right to refuse because I remember later being a bit cranky and feeling manipulated by the whole process.  I can’t remember the details but it revolved around my discovering that the default for donation was I’d donated all of my organs and I had to opt out if I wanted to do otherwise but opting out was a bit of a pain (I’m lazy about these things at the best of times).  I think it was because they don’t send you the relevant forms when they send the notification so I felt like I’d just bought some steak knives or something.  I was worried because the thought of a bunch of officious medical people getting in the way of my family’s grieving so they could slice my skin off or whatever upset me.  In fact everytime I think of organ donation I remember that I’ve been meaning to deregister at some point.  But if my family get to tell the doctors to go away if they want to then that’s fine.

      I wouldn’t dream of trying to dictate terms for who gets what or who can or can’t be a recipient.  Many recipients never really had a first chance, for the most part I believe people deserve another chance or two anyway, and really when we let people die it is the people who loved them who suffer the most.

      A bit of a ramble but those are (some of) my thoughts.

      Reply

    • True Blue ! says:

      01:44pm | 01/02/11

      Kochie, I am offended that you think I am Un-Australian because I choose to keep my organs when I die,  I think you need to choose a better way of delivering your message.  you throw the term Un-Australian around so loosely.
      I refuse, point blank, to help people who have already ruined their own organs. ie Alcoholics and Drug addicts and Obese people etc..they dont deserve it… look after what you have while you have it…
      but I am NOT UN-AUSTRALIAN for my choice !!!  When your time is up, your time is up, go gracefully !!!
      Choose to live a healthier lifestyle and there will be no need for organ donation at all !!!

      Reply

    • Sara says:

      02:10pm | 01/02/11

      So cystic fibrosis, corneal degeneration, and crushed bones could all be prevented with lifestyle changes?

    • BR says:

      02:15pm | 01/02/11

      True Blue; (little self serving, but we’ll continue). I’m an insulin dependent diabetic, I was born with this condition, as such there is a good chance at some point in my life I will need a kidney transplant. I don’t fit into your sweeping generalisation that brands all those in need of organs as alchos, druggies or fatties. This is only one condition, I’m sure there are hundreds of others which have derogatory effects on organs without the need for alcohol, drugs or general poor health.

      Conversely, being a volunteer fire-fighter and SES volunteer I wouldn’t leave you in a burning house or bleeding out in an overturned car even if you fitted into the afore mentioned criteria. Brainless beliefs like yours reinforce what this article is talking about in regards to having such a low donation rate in this country.

      If you want to be planted with your organs intact (provided you die in a way that doesn’t require an autopsy), best of luck to you. However don’t publish ridiculous allegations that those in need are just not worthy of your help, or anyone else’s. I wouldn’t call it “Un-Australian”, it’s frankly closer to spineless.

    • Elphaba says:

      02:41pm | 01/02/11

      True Blue, the fact that you think a healthy lifestyle will mean no one will ever need an organ transplant again, is laughable.

      And a healthcare system that excludes people based on lifestyle choice?  Fatties, drunks, smokers, like it or not, pay taxes and are entitled to as much health care as you.  Decisions to treat and how to treat are made by doctors, thank goodness - not some discriminatory d!ck on The Punch

      In any case, I think we’ve found an appropriate use of the the term Un-Australian. Or maybe discriminating twat is more to your liking?  In any case, I apply it to you.  David Koch - take note.

    • jane says:

      03:49pm | 01/02/11

      Well i hope you never need any medical attention. Its not all about organs, you may well need someone elses blood or someone else to take care of you when you are unwell. Babies are born with various forms of illness, do you blame them and say they do not deserve your help?

    • Shifter says:

      04:05pm | 01/02/11

      A healthy lifestyle may be well and good, however what of the possibility of those inflicted by hereditary risk of certain diseases. A simple example where donor organs would involved is kidney failure due to diabetes.

      @True Blue - I think you’re advocating a very Darwinistic approach to life here. Heaven forbid a person close to you is crippled by a genetic disease early in life.

    • Emma says:

      02:09pm | 01/02/11

      The little girl in the picture is alive today because she had a heart transplant - don’t cha think it seems a bit harsh to suggest that she somehow deserved to die because she lived an unhealthy life, or that she and her parents should just suck it up despite there being such a simple way for her to live a fulfilling life?

      But yeah, let me join the chorus of boos aimed at “unAustralian”.  I hate that disgusting term.

      Reply

    • hmm says:

      06:36pm | 01/02/11

      That little girl is alive today because someone’s family member died. 
      Did that other person deserve to die to give her a chance at life?
      In order for her to live a fulfilling life, someone had to lose theirs.

    • Emma says:

      09:51pm | 01/02/11

      That makes no sense whatsoever - the donor was already dead, they didn’t die so that she could live.

    • Kika says:

      03:18pm | 01/02/11

      I am on the donor register and want my organs donated. My husband told me he wants to donate his whole body to do research on cadavers - so forensics and stuff can watch them rot. Ewww. I would veto that!

      But the same thing can apply to blood donation. Hardly anyone donates blood. Blood can be used to save up to 3 people for all different types of things. I shouldn’t be a hypocrite - last time I did it was quite some years ago now. I should go back. Everyone should donate blood too!

      Reply

    • notSue says:

      04:20pm | 01/02/11

      Not everyone can donate though, Kika. Exposure to various organisms, low haemoglobin and certain illnesses etc exclude one. However, I agree more people should donate blood than do, but I certainly wouldn’t want to see a financial payment made, as happens in the States. Because it’s voluntary, people do it with no ulterior motives, the same for organ donations. The minute money becomes an issue, it becomes a transaction, with all the possibilities for abuse which that entails.

    • AFR says:

      05:32pm | 01/02/11

      Blood donation is VERY restrictive. if you lived in England between certain years, or have ever slept with a hooker (that kocks most men out straight away).

    • Shifter says:

      04:21pm | 01/02/11

      Kochie, the use of the word un-Australian by is un-Australian. Surely your wonderful mind can come up a better comparison. I, and other readers are sick of wowsers trotting out that line in an appeal to the country’s bogan masses. We’re better than that. You’re better than that.

      Apparently, in the context you’ve presented, not donating organs is rather Australian. To be better perhaps it would be Spanish, and if that were true, would that not mean that it was also un-Australian?

      Reply

    • david says:

      07:50pm | 01/02/11

      i’ve heard the spanish are very australian…

    • Sarah says:

      04:52pm | 01/02/11

      I am on the organ donor list but its pointless any way as my old fashioned parents don’t believe in organ donation. What’s the point when someone else can veto what you want anyway?

      Reply

    • PK says:

      05:34pm | 01/02/11

      What about live donation? Kidneys, parts of livers, bone marrow and blood can all be donated from a live donor!

      This should also be encouraged!

      As for the dismal rate of about 300 donors, do you realise this does not only help 300 people, it probably helped up to 900?

      Kochie, while I agree with the importance of organ donation, I think some of the comparisons you have made between countries doesn’t work.

      Not everyone dies waiting for a transplant. There are known patients who have been on dialysis for 20 years plus and are still going strong.

      Comparing the USA and Australia’s organ donation rate doesn’t make sense as they have a population at least 10 times bigger than ours! They have tens of thousands of people waiting for a transplant.

      Not everyone can have a tranplant as they may have co-morbidities which do not let their body be strong enough to hold on to a transplanted organ.

      Even if consent is given for organ donation, organs are not always viable. You need to be declared brain dead on a ventillator for it to work.

      Australian transplant doctors do an AMAZING job.

      Please don’t discount the amazing work transplant doctors do in Australia! They save peoples lives!

      Some of the patients turned away is not because the list is too long - it’s because they are too sick for their body to withstand the actual operation!

      I find this article dissapointing. You should raise awareness but not by scaring people!!!!! Talk about transplanted patients, show us the benefits, show the life these doctors give!!!

      Be a little positive too. My husband was born with kidney issues and received his kidney almost 20 years ago and it’s still going strong!

      Tell us a bit about the girl in the picture. One of the posters here wrote she had a heart transplant? Tell us about the amazing work doctors have done to save her.

      Educate people please!

      Reply

    • Mary Monica Roche says:

      06:48pm | 01/02/11

      Your comment:
      one should only donate organs if one id dead.
      until then, these organs are needed.

      Reply

    • PK says:

      07:52pm | 01/02/11

      If everyone had this attitude Mary, people wouldn’t be saved from Leukaemia with a life saving bone marrow transplant which was donated by someone alive!

      If everyone thought like this, live live transplant (where only a part of a relatives liver is transplanted into a patient) would not be possible.

      People would die when they’d lose a lot of blood if no one was donating!

      Medical science is amazing! Why not try and help a loved one?

    • bananabender says:

      07:26pm | 01/02/11

      The only way a child can have a heart transplant is if another child dies. Hearts can’t be transplanted from adults to children. 

      Live transplants from immediate family members are far more successful than organs from strangers who die in accidents.

      Been an organ donor is great in theory but bits of disease-ridden old people aren’t particularly useful.

      Reply

    • DD says:

      08:03pm | 01/02/11

      Two ways to make the system more efficient:
      1) make it opt out, not opt in.  Everyone is automatically listed as being an organ donor unless they tick the box that says they don’t want to be. 
      2) Family cannot override the decision to be an organ donor unless in extreme circumstances.

      Reply

    • PK says:

      09:06pm | 01/02/11

      What is extemely sad is that some of those who are completely against organ donation beg and plead for an organ if they get ill.

      I agree with the opt out option and that ones organ donation decision is not overriden by family.

      Approximately 900 lives were saved from the 300 deceased people that became organ donors. It’s pretty amazing.

      Yes, it’s very sad that someone had to die to save someones life. But why should someone’s organs go to waste if they’re dead and not be put to good use?

    • Wobbles says:

      09:21pm | 01/02/11

      I for one think organ donating is a good idea after all you won’t need it in the end, I was on the donor list but have since had my name taken off and yes my wish has been written down by my solicitor, I have an illness the doctors don’t know what causes it (Meniere’s Disease), and I thought to myself with what I am going through with it I don’t want to donate my organs because if it turns out later to be caused by a virus, I don’t want the transplant recipiant won’t get my condition. so instead the next best thing I could do is to donate my entire inner ears for research for a cure.

      Reply

    • seniorcynic says:

      09:25pm | 01/02/11

      The lowering of the road toll has decreased the number of brain dead patients on respirators suitable for harvesting. If seat belts were removed from cars there would be heaps of suitable donors. Someone has to die so that another has a chance at life. Even with anti rejection drugs the recipients life expectancy is less than a healthy person although longer than it would be if they didn’t receive the organ.

      Reply

    • Daniel says:

      09:46pm | 01/02/11

      Why don’t we invest more money into replacement organ cloning? Problem solved.

      Reply

    • Fed up says:

      12:25am | 02/02/11

      You are born, you live then you die.  That is what nature intended.  Organ transplantation, and other medical procedures, only weakens the human race.

      Reply

    • Woodsy says:

      09:54am | 02/02/11

      How does the donation of organs from a dead person to a single person alter the genetic make-up of their offspring? Your simplistic view of being born, living and dying may have been applicable back in the archaic days, when being elderly meant you turned 40.  But now we have the fortune for people, such as my father, being able to live now 7 years longer than the 2 weeks he was given due to medical breakthroughs.

      Enjoy swearing off anything medically related and see how you go. Actually, please do it, and do the gene pool a massive favour.

    • Syl says:

      10:33am | 02/02/11

      So penicillin, antibiotics etc weakened the human race?  Even though our life expectancies are the highest they have ever been?

      Huh?

    • Ex-Australian in USA says:

      10:15am | 02/02/11

      And what would Australia do with a boat-load or two of organs? The things would all rot by the time any of you got to see a specialist or got a room in an Australian hospital. While you repeat Obama and Oprah lies about how many Americans are dying in our streets, unable to afford health-care, I am saving newspaper articles and reports such as this about how crappy your system is. I use them in my fight to repeal Obamacare before it transforms our health-care system into yours. If you truly believe the Obama lies, then our millions of poor dead should be a great source of the piddling number of organs that Australians require. I only live a couple hours away from many of the finest hospitals in the world and have had occasion to use their outstanding services, so I can speak with some authority, but Australians care more about bashing Yanks than about the truth.

      Reply

    • Jess says:

      03:04pm | 02/02/11

      Please explain what this has to do with anything? Apparently organ donation = “Yank bashing”.... Righto.

    • Ex-Australian in USA says:

      05:30am | 04/02/11

      Jess…. You are just a smidge smarter than most would give you credit for. Bravo, you answered your own question.

    • Yianni says:

      11:39am | 03/02/11

      Register today.  Tell your family tonight.  Problem solved tomorrow.

      R.I.P Nick.  We miss ya re.

      Reply

    • PK says:

      01:11am | 05/02/11

      Wow Ex-Australian in the USA

      I have a few things to say to you.

      Australians like to winge. A lot. And they like to repeat a lot of information which is not factually correct.

      Australia has a waiting list of approx. 1200 for tranplants. 300 people donated last year which helped approximately 900 people.

      Over 81,000 people wait transplants in the US - so Australia being compared to the USA makes no sense whatsoever considering they have a population at least 10 times the size of it.

      Ugh, I could go on and on.

      At least Australians in Australia have access to medical care, no matter if they are working or not.

      What about the average American who can’t afford medical insurance and so avoids going to hospital or to a doctor? Or who doesn’t buy their medication as it’s too expensive? Which fricken pensioner in the states can afford about 1500 a month in medication for a transplant. Absolutely shocking.

      Reply

    • samuall says:

      02:48pm | 19/06/11

      Hi Guys (& Gals). I Just came across & wanted to
      introduce myself. many forums seem a little “cliquey” for noobs
      but this one does not. Hope to learn a bunch while I am here!

      Reply
 
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