Myth An Reality Of Organ Donation

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MYTH VS REALITY Myth. If I agree to donate my organs, my doctor or the emergency room staff won't work as hard to save my life. They'll remove my organs as soon as possible to save somebody else. Reality. When you go to the hospital for treatment, doctors focus on saving your life -- not somebody else's. You'll be seen by a doctor whose specialty most closely matches your particular emergency. The doctor in charge of your care has nothing to do with transplantation. Myth. Maybe I won't really be dead when they sign my death certificate. It'll be too late for me if they've taken my organs for transplantation. I might have otherwise recovered. Reality. Although it's a popular topic in the tabloids, in reality, people don't start to wiggle a toe after they're declared dead. In fact, people who have agreed to organ donation are given more tests to determine that they are truly dead than are those who haven't agreed to organ donation. Myth. My family will be charged for donating a loved one's organs. Reality. The organ donor's family is never charged for donating. Your family is charged for the cost of all final efforts to save your loved one's life, and those costs are sometimes misinterpreted as costs related to organ donation. Costs for organ removal go to the transplant recipient. If you receive a bill for what you believe are costs related to organ donation, talk to the billing department of the hospital. You may have misunderstood the charges, or the costs may have been misdirected. Funeral expenses are still the responsibility of the donor's family. Myth. Rich, famous and powerful people always seem to move to the front of the line when they need a donor organ. There's no way to ensure that my organs will go to those who've waited the longest or are the neediest. Reality. The rich and famous aren't given priority when it comes to allocating organs. It may
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