DETROIT – A national investigation into the organ transplant system is creating ripple effects in Michigan, impacting potential organ donors.
The gift of life through organ donation is a sacred chance to give someone a second chance as their own life ends. However, recent headlines about a disturbing 2021 case in Kentucky are causing concern among would-be donors in Michigan.
Related: US organ donation system faces scrutiny and changes after reports of disturbing near-misses
The Kentucky case involved a man who suffered a drug overdose and was taken into the operating room for organ donation despite showing signs of improvement. The procedure was stopped in time, but it prompted the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to investigate other concerning cases and launch efforts to reform the system.
“Some of the allegations that were written in the report by HHS, they’re concerning, and I think they deserve a proper investigation,” said Dorrie Dils, president and CEO of Gift of Life Michigan. “And you know, education or policy changes that need to happen as a result of it.”
None of the incidents in the HHS report occurred in Michigan, but Dils is seeing an impact locally.
“We’ve seen an alarming number of people who removed themselves from the Michigan donor registry as a result of it, about a 55% increase over this time last year, and that’s concerning,” she said. “My hope is that people will contact us and try to get some of the facts before they make that decision to remove themselves.”
Dils emphasized the need for better national standards around donation after circulatory death.
“A patient has some catastrophic illness or event and is on life support or the ventilator and the decision has been made between the care team and the family that they’re going to discontinue treatment, that treatment is futile and it doesn’t make sense to keep going,” Dils said. “I think the most important piece of this, though, is that organ donation does not happen until after death occurs.”
HHS has directed strict corrective actions for organ procurement nationally to safeguard potential donors. Dils said the process in Michigan is safe, but wants families everywhere to have that same trust.
“I’m hoping that some very clear national standards will be created so that we know, and the public can know, that donation happens safely, ethically and the same way across the country,” she said.
Dils stressed that organ donation is 100% based on public trust. She noted that Gift of Life Michigan is only involved after the medical care team and family have decided there is no hope for recovery.
---> Here’s how you can join the Michigan Organ Donor Registry