Rather controversial - organ donars

[Ginger Rogers]

Do you think there is a possibly that if you are a registered Organ donar that they will be less likely to try and save you - or won't try as hard if you are really ill or have a bad accident?
am I allowed to say things like that?!

[Mojo]

Do you think there is a possibly that if you are a registered Organ donar that they will be less likely to try and save you - or won't try as hard if you are really ill or have a bad accident?

If you carry a doner card they will help themselves to your kebab after you die.

[tkingdoll]

I think it's unlikely they would treat you any differently. Firstly, in a life-threatening situation, the first priority is to save the patient, not check the register, so it's possible they wouldn't even know you are registered until you are dead (or not, as the case may be).

Secondly, what would be the benefit of letting you die in favour of someone who is already ill? There is no guarantee of success with a transplant, and in a socialised healthcare system like the UK has, there's no monetary value in an organ. You would have to have a very, very corrupt doctor who is willing to ignore his Hippocratic Oath, and that's not particularly likely.

Of course, if you have any evidence of this happening anywhere, it would certainly be in the public interest to release it, but if it's just speculation on your part, I really wouldn't worry. Could it happen? Yes, in the same way that an overzealous cleaning lady could unplug your life support machine to power her hoover. Does it happen? I would say it's unlikely.

[Mongrel]

Do you stay awake at night thinking of these things or did you just watch Coma (http://imdb.com/title/tt0077355/)last night? ??? ;)

No, they don't. Putting aside the fact the Ethical nightmare that would confront medical staff if this were the case...
Any Hospital that showed abnormally high losses for particular ailments would soon be having questions asked of it.
Why would we have such huge recipient waiting lists?
Whilst it sounds morbid - I believe the majority of people who get cards are not suitable donors. An ideal donor is young, fit and involved in an accident that leaves them brain dead (preferably while hooked up to life support).
A donor card is not a legally binding document, what it does do is make it easier for the Medical staff to ask next of kin the question.

[tkingdoll]

Mongrel raises an excellent point. Even if you are on the organ donor register and/or carry a card, your family can still overrule your wishes in the event of your death.

Which kinda sucks, if you ask me.

[kath23]

I think they've just stopped families being able to overrule an organ donor card now.

As to killing for organs, as someone said earlier you have to die in a very specific way such as coma.

Or maybe they are in black vans chasing motor cyclists :o It's all a conspiracy :)

[Cuddles]

Most organ donars come from people with massive head trauma that are often brain-dead before even reaching hospital. Obviously they will try to save everyone, but generally if it is reallisticly possible to save your life, it is unlikely you will be a suitable donar since the damage is likely to be in your body rather than your head.

On a slightly different note, I know they try to find a match for the immune system so organs won't be rejected. Does it matter if the organs are male or female? I don't think x or y chromosomes have anything to do with the immune system so I wouldn't have thought the wrong gender would cause rejection.

[tkingdoll]

The laws change today, from now on your family won't be able to overrule your donor card wishes. Hooray for sanity!

No, gender isn't normally an issue.

[catrushmore]

It doesn't matter if the organs come from a male or female, this is why a sister can donate a kidney to a brother or a husband donate his to his wife. Tissue matching is also complemented by an arsenal of immunosupressant drugs which slow down the rate that the tissue is rejected when the match is less than perfect, which is pretty often.