Scary
When are you dead, and when can people take your organs? Well according to these people: when your family says so. Let's hope your family loves you, otherwise you might close your eyes to take a nap and they'll be saying, "They're gone, take what you want."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/03/AR2008100301974.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/03/AR2008100301974.html
having spent a fair amount of time in Children's (hospital) through the years I think this article is rather unneccesarily inflamatory.
ReplyDeleteI am not saying I know the ins and outs of transplant decisions but will say that many of the children that die from heart failure have soooooo much else wrong with them that they will die of one or other of their issues shortly. The author failed to inform us of why these children died. What else was wrong with them? Because if they were healthy otherwise they would be on the transplant list. Do I sound callous?
When my friend knew that that her son was dying(after several years of pain and suffering) she whispered to him it was okay.(still makes me cry) It is okay to let them go. And it is okay to use their organs to give another child a chance. People that worry should protect themselves by preparing a living will and not just relying on the judgement of others.
I understand your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I thought this was one of the few articles I've read in awhile that actually addressed what I've seen as a disturbing trend for years.
I am not a person who believes that people shouldn't use medical technology and food and oxygen (which is what life support is) to help people survive. I think a lot of people think that life support can keep people alive indefinitely. It's not true. Technology does not exist that can keep a person alive forever. People die on life support.
I think the trend is (if society got a little honest) is that people who can no longer communicate or care for themselves are too much hassle and no longer useful or contributing to society, therefore have little (if any) worth as a human being.
I've seen it in documentaries, in grandma's nursing home, in journals and articles I've read... in movies (Million Dollar Baby, anyone? 'I can't box so my life has no meaning' and it's considered 'beautiful' and 'noble' that she had her coach kill her) and I've experienced it.
When mom's friend Alex had the massive stroke that killed him he was in the hospital and his family had complete access to him while they were deciding whether or not to pull the plug. The doctors were pressuring them- 'he'll be a vegetable, he'll have brain damage... if he survives at all.' Then they decided to not pull the plug and their access was completely revoked until the doctors informed them two days later that he was dying and they should gather.
I think organ donation is beautiful and I've seen documentaries of doctors who respect the families losing their loved ones as well as the families that are gaining the organs. However I have read articles and have seen doctors interviewed that say they feel pressure to get donations and thus things get a little hairy...
So this article (to me) highlights that problem... Who gets to decide what's death? At what point do people stop rescuscitation etc... I agree with you that people should have a living will.
I do think it's beautiful to let someone go, and sometimes it's beautiful to take care of them until they die- even if it's on a machine.