Comments

• By Delores Evans on 01/22 09:41 AM

  Many people have become interested in at least learning more about organ, tissue and eye donations. Participating in the Rose Parade and riding on the Donate Life Float was one of the most significant events in my life. We were voted viewer's choice because of what our float stands for: donating life. People cried and cheered when our float came into their view. My son, Ryan and many other donors were recognized for their gifts of life and their pictures adorned the float. I will continue to help and assist in getting more people to register to become donors. Carolina Donor Services is our OPO. If, anyone wants to contact me, please do so: dbe3441@yahoo.com Delores Benton Evans

• By Dave Undis on 10/29 08:32 PM

  Several weeks ago, famous singer Natalie Cole received a kidney through directed donation. Directed donation is the process that LifeSharers members use to offer their organs first to other organ donors. When Leanne Smith says LifeSharers is not viable, she is misinformed. She is also misinformed when she says that LifeSharers members will not have their gift realized unless they have also registered with the UNOS-linked registry in their home state. LifeSharers is a donor registry as defined under the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act. It's true that no LifeSharers member has yet received an organ from another member. But that's only because no LifeSharers member has yet died and become an organ donor. For more information about how LifeSharers works, please visit our web site at www.lifesharers.org.

• By Leanne Smith on 10/29 07:12 PM

  How unfortunate another 1,000 people have registered with LifeSharers. To date, they have not "placed" a single organ. As someone who has been through the organ waiting process with their spouse, I can tell anyone reading this "LifeSharers" is not a viable option. Transplant facilities only use the UNOS registry. While it may be legal for someone to register thier donation wishes with "LifeSharers" they are not authorized to procure or place organs. It's very sad to think there are more than 13,000 people who wish to donate their organs and have registered their donation wishes with "LifeSharers" will not have their gift realized unless they have also registered with the UNOS-linked registry in their home state. Again, laws that oversee donation vary from state to state. It is important to ensure your decision to be a donor is carried out. Find out how at http://www.donatelife.net/CommitToDonation/

• By Dave Undis on 10/29 12:53 PM

  Leanne Smith said the answer to the organ shortage is education about donation. But lots of wonderful organizations have been educating Americans about donation for the last 20 years, and the shortage keeps growing. As long as we let people take without giving, there will always be an organ shortage. LifeSharers does create a special class - the class of organ donors. Organ donors deserve special consideration in organ allocation. LifeSharers is not a closed system. It's open to everyone. LifeSharers is legal in all 50 states and under federal law. If you'd like to donate your organs to other organ donors, you can join over 13,000 LifeSharers members at www.lifesharers.org. It's free. it could save your life.

• By Leanne Smith on 10/29 11:24 AM

  My husband recently died waiting for a liver transplant. I agree there IS a shortage of donated organs in the US. But Lifesharers is NOT the answer. The answer is education about donation and encouraging people to make their own personal decision to be a donor. Lifesharers creates a class of members for special consideration in the organ donor process. By creating this special class, Lifesharers undermines the existing framework for organ allocation, which is predicated on clinically relevant consideration, not personal characteristics. The existing framework is based on the opinions of medical professionals, which Lifesharers works to override in their decision-making processes. In its current format, Lifesharers is a closed system. Lifesharers "members" who need transplants can accept a donation from anyone, but those who are donors would preferentially restrict their donation to other "members". Under the current system, no other patients in the US who seek medical treatment are required to give back anything beyond money for the costs of treatment. The OPTN/UNOS Board of Directors has declined to endorse the operating principles of Lifesharers, as these principles undermine the existing framework for organ allocation in the United States based on ethical and legal issues surrounding Lifesharers and their "allocation" process. Currently, there are less than 12,000 people on the Lifesharers list and an organ has never been placed within the Lifesharers list. Laws that oversee donation vary from state to state. It is important for you to know how to ensure your decision to be a donor is carried out. Find out how by visiting http://www.donatelife.net/CommitToDonation/

• By Dave Undis on 10/29 10:16 AM

  Mr. Van Stavern called the figures I mentioned “voodoo”. He’s wrong. They’re facts. I said more over half of the 100,000 Americans on the national transplant waiting list will die before they get a transplant. Dr. Robert Metzger, MD, then President-Elect of United Network for Organ Sharing, said this in 2003: “Over 81,000 patients are on the wait-list for transplantation in the United States today and more than 5000 will die this year without receiving a transplant. More startling is that almost 60% of those on the list today will die without receiving a transplant.” He said this in written testimony to Congression. The organ shortage has only grown worse since then. I said Americans bury or cremate 20,000 transplantable organs every year. About 15,000 Americans die every year die in circumstances that would permit donation of their organs. Only about half of these people donate. That means about 7,500 eligible donors don’t donate. UNOS gets about 3 organs from each deceased donor, so that means every year about 22,500 organs that could have been donated are buried or cremated instead. The system Mr. Van Stavern defends is broken. He should be glad LifeSharers is trying to help. Instead, he criticizes the motives of our members — all of them registered organ donors. Whether or not Mr. Van Stavern likes what LifeSharers is doing, LifeSharers offers a legal alternative in all 50 states and is increasing the number of registered organ donors. If you want your organs to be donated to other organ donors, please join LifeSharers at http://www.lifesharers.org.

• By Phil Van Stavern on 10/26 06:31 PM

  I am compelled to respond to the remarks of one of your commenters, David J. Undis. I follow Mr. Undis around the internet as he uses opportunities like this one to promote his offensive schemes to “increase organ donation”. The only thing original about his comment is the first line. The rest of it is cut-and-paste. First, the voodoo figures he uses in his second paragraph are just that…voodoo. He has no way to substantiate either figure. Second, his proposal for creation of two waiting lists, one for Americans who have registered as donors, and a second for those who, for whatever reason, have not registered, undermines the very nature of donation; a selfless, compassionate act of reaching out to another human being in distress. He would have the non-donors, should they need an organ transplant to survive, suffer a greater risk of dying because they have not registered. That’s supposed to increase donation? The premise is that fear of not receiving a needed organ will make non-donors run to the DMV to register. That simply won’t happen. If Mr. Undis really wanted to increase donation, he would urge readers to go to http://www.donatelife.net, and find out how to sign up on their own state’s donor registry. He offers the more immediate alternative of joining Lifesharers, an “organ donor club” he started about 6 years ago. He describes it this way: LifeSharers is a non-profit network of organ donors who agree to offer their organs first to other organ donors when they die. What he fails to mention is that the “other organ donors” to whom he refers are the other members of this very small club. He has signed up a little more than 13,000, by his count, while those of us who labor every day in the legitimate organ donation and transplantation community have registered more than 82 million Americans. Mr. Undis’ ideas won’t work, but we know what will work. Learn about donation and its benefits, then join the more than 82 million Americans who have taken action to become registered organ, eye and tissue donors in their own states, Finally, inform your family that you are a registered donor. Those simple steps, taken by all of us, will exponentially increase the number of lives saved or improved by organ, eye and tissue donation in the United States. Phil Van Stavern LifeShare of Oklahoma (21-year kidney recipient)

• By Sue A. Moore on 10/24 06:05 PM

  This is the first I have heard of LifeSharers; I think it's a marvelous idea. I have lost two adult stepchildren while they were on dialysis awaiting transplantation (complications of type 1 diabetes). Now,in a second marriage, I have an additional adult stepchild who has fallen victim to a rare kidney disease and is on dialysis, awaiting transplantation. Thanks go to Delores Benton Evans for telling her story, and to Dave Undis for his educational comments.

• By David J Undis on 10/24 12:55 PM

  Delores Benton Evans was very lucky to get a Kidney transplant. Over half of the 100,000 Americans on the national waiting list will die before they get a transplant. Most of these deaths are needless. Americans bury or cremate 20,000 transplantable organs every year. There is a simple way to put a big dent in the organ shortage – give donated organs first to people who have agreed to donate their own organs when they die. Giving organs first to organ donors will convince more people to register as organ donors. It will also make the organ allocation system fairer. People who aren't prepared to share the gift of life should go to the back of the transplant waiting list as long as there is a shortage of organs. Anyone who wants to donate their organs to others who have agreed to donate theirs can join LifeSharers. LifeSharers is a non-profit network of organ donors who agree to offer their organs first to other organ donors when they die. Membership is free at www.lifesharers.org or by calling 1-888-ORGAN88. There is no age limit, parents can enroll their minor children, and no one is excluded due to any pre-existing medical condition. LifeSharers has over 13,000 members, including 394 members in North Carolina. Please contact me - Dave Undis, Executive Director of LifeSharers - if your viewers/readers would like to learn more about our innovative approach to increasing the number of organ donors. I can arrange interviews with some of our local members if you're interested. My email address is daveundis@lifesharers.org. My phone number is 615-351-8622.

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