The surprising thing I learned from this article is a lot of the would-be donors were dying or presumed dead from overdoses. I always thought drug use would taint the organs and make them useless for donation.
foxyv · 7h ago
Most opioids do not damage organs. They typically just change our central nervous systems and suppress breathing which is how they ultimately kill. The brain will die long before organs during oxygen depravation.
Alcohol, amphetamines, and other drugs do in fact damage organs before they kill but opioids do not unless they also contain something like Tylenol which is a liver toxin.
pinewurst · 8h ago
Is donor cause of death disclosed to the organ recipients and/or their medical providers?
delichon · 11h ago
Along with the good it can do, people should be made aware of these stories before signing up to be an organ donor. Otherwise the consent isn't truly informed.
When you consider the growing evidence that we've seen over the years that apparently unresponsive people can be fully aware of their surroundings, this is truly terrifying.
From some of the remarks at the end of the article one really statts to wonder how much survivorship bias there is here... How many procedures went forward despite the medical professionals in the room being uncomfortable...
tredre3 · 8h ago
> When you consider the growing evidence that we've seen over the years that apparently unresponsive people can be fully aware of their surroundings, this is truly terrifying.
We're also seeing growing evidence that a fair amount of people regain consciousness under general anaesthesia (but remain fully paralyzed), despite the common wisdom putting it as much less than 1%. What is uncommon is to remember it afterwards, because the drugs cocktail prevents memory formation.
I've heard in some lighter procedures (think bone setting or dental work) just an amnesic drug is given as apparently not biologically encoding/remembering a traumatic event seems to produce just as good an outlook as blocking the tramua through unconsciousness/painkillers
exe34 · 8h ago
I'd be pretty pissed to get this close to not having to wake up and then they bungle it up. Now I have to go back to work and pay taxes.
opwieurposiu · 10h ago
Are you really dead if some of your organs are living on in someone else's body?
Seems like you would only be "Mostly Dead"
mock-possum · 9h ago
Unless we’re talking about the brain and central the nervous system, your organs aren’t you, they’re yours
dmitrygr · 9h ago
This is why I will never be an organ donor and watch the news of successful xenotransplants with excitement.
jsutter909 · 10h ago
Another point for the Charlie Munger maxim, "show me the incentive and I'll show you the outcome"
nitwit005 · 4h ago
If incentives rule, you should never, ever, under any circumstance, seek medical treatment.
The incentive is to make everyone who shows up at the hospital maximally sick, ideally with illnesses that require as many tests and treatments and possible.
You can't trust your friends or family either. The hospital may have paid them to try to convince you.
triceratops · 10h ago
What's the incentive? The hospital gets paid for keeping patients on life support too, right?
senkora · 10h ago
The Organ Procurement Organizations are separate entities and have their own incentives. It’s their representatives who are pushing for organ retrieval in dubious cases.
triceratops · 9h ago
Yeah that's not great. Why do procurement organizations have "incentives" at all? Are employees there actually getting compensated on number of transplants performed? That's a bit gross IMO. It's a non-profit. You work there for a below-market salary and a feeling of doing something good in the world.
ty6853 · 9h ago
You have to love American brand of capitalism, where it is illegal to sell your own organs, but legal to sell someone else's.
Alcohol, amphetamines, and other drugs do in fact damage organs before they kill but opioids do not unless they also contain something like Tylenol which is a liver toxin.
From some of the remarks at the end of the article one really statts to wonder how much survivorship bias there is here... How many procedures went forward despite the medical professionals in the room being uncomfortable...
We're also seeing growing evidence that a fair amount of people regain consciousness under general anaesthesia (but remain fully paralyzed), despite the common wisdom putting it as much less than 1%. What is uncommon is to remember it afterwards, because the drugs cocktail prevents memory formation.
https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2022/05/24/durin...
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/sep/10/surgery-pati...
Seems like you would only be "Mostly Dead"
The incentive is to make everyone who shows up at the hospital maximally sick, ideally with illnesses that require as many tests and treatments and possible.
You can't trust your friends or family either. The hospital may have paid them to try to convince you.