To Get an Organ, Agree to Give an Organ

Dave Undis is a retired insurance executive with a passion for helping people to live longer and the ability to look at hard numbers. He notes that 100,000 Americans need organ transplants, and more than half of those will die before an organ becomes available. More troubling is that in the time it takes for 8,000 patients to die, 20,000 potentially lifesaving organs will be buried or cremated. Furthermore, the waiting list is growing five times as fast as the rate of organ donation. Undis also notes that we are more likely to need a transplant than to die in circumstances that permit the donation of our organs.

His solution? LifeSharers.org, a community of members who have agreed to donate their organs upon their death and to offer them first to other members. Explains Undis, “This reciprocity-based approach to organ donation has the potential to greatly increase the total pool of available organs. Someone who would throw away his organs rather than save a neighbor’s life has no moral claim to a lifesaving organ from his neighbor.”

Membership in LifeSharers is free of charge. For more information, go to lifesharers.org.