Startling revelations from HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy, Jr. about organ donation stunned Americans when he released results of an independent investigation.
Life Issues Institute documented these tragic circumstances and others and aired them in a two-part television program titled Facing Life Head-On. Here are key points gleaned from Secretary Kennedy and our research that you and your family members should be aware of.
A diagnosis of brain death first began with the advent of heart transplants. Today it is often the green light to proceed with organ harvesting. However, it is based solely on subjective reasoning. At one time the American Academy of Neurology stated this on their website:
“Many of the details of the clinical neurologic examination to determine brain death cannot be established by evidence-based methods. The detailed brain death evaluation protocol that follows is intended as a useful tool for clinicians. It must be emphasized that this guidance is opinion-based. Alternative protocols may be equally informative.” (emphasis added) Quote accessed here.
Medical decisions may be based upon the financial benefit of the hospital over what’s best for the patient. Organ donation’s lucrative reward for doctors and hospitals is immense.
Dick Teresi, who once supported brain death, wrote a compelling book called The Undead which pinpoints areas of financial temptation.
Teresi reports the transplant industry generates $20 billion annually, spending over one billion on immunosuppressive drugs and pays transplant surgeons handsomely. Hospitals aren’t left empty-handed either. They receive a “finder’s fee” explained as “administrative costs.” The only ones banned from the money gravy train are the donors and their families.
When the diagnosis of brain death is used, there are wild differences in how that determination is reached. Research published in February 2016, JAMA Neurology, examined over 500 hospitals and found huge discrepancies in how they determine a patient is brain dead.
That problem persists today. But relying on an alternative method risks upsetting the applecart of organ donations. “Eliminating brain death or requiring additional testing could significantly reduce the number of people who would be eligible for organ donation at a time when organs for transplantation remain in severely short supply.”
If that doesn’t send a chill up your spine read it again.
Angela Clemente had a personal experience with her mother’s health that motivated her to research the law and patients’ rights.
Some hospitals, she found, practice intimidation by guilt. “You must let your family member die because he or she is in pain.” Even if there is no truth to the statement. According to Angela some prey on family disagreements because the presence of disharmony of any kind means the hospital ethics committee can legally take over the decision making process.
The good news is the Terri Schiavo Life and Hope Network has a long list of free resources you can use to protect you and your family members.
HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy, Jr. said, “Our findings show that hospitals allowed the organ procurement process to begin when patients showed signs of life, and this is horrifying.”
Too horrible to be true?
Ryan Marlow suffered a brain injury due to an infection. Just weeks later doctors labeled Ryan brain dead, told his wife Meghan he was “clinically deceased” and put a time of death on his chart. Ryan was an organ donor so three days later they planned to harvest them while he was left on life support.
Then the doctors called his wife to say he wasn’t brain dead but couldn’t live without life support. They told her they would adjust the time of his death to when they harvested Ryan’s organs. The day scheduled for harvesting his organs he moved his feet. Fast forward he is back at work behind the pulpit.
Consider the case of Jenny Hamann. A coma rendered her “locked in,” able to hear and understand everything but unable to even open her eyes. A doctor came into her room with a group of interns saying, “This is a sad case. Young woman, two small children at home. Her husband is being completely unreasonable. If he would just sign the forms so many people could benefit from her organs.” Jenny thought to herself, “You can’t have my organs! I need my organs!”
The doctor continued, “She’s brain dead, she can’t hear anything, she can’t understand anything. She has about a one percent chance of coming out of this coma and if she does she’ll be a vegetable.” With this added incentive Jenny came out of her coma three weeks later and within a year made a full recovery.
Theresa Dampf, RN who has had considerable experience in critical care says a family’s consent for organ donation may not be truly informed consent. One common misconception is that the patient draws a last breath, the heart stops beating and the family is given time to say goodbye.
In reality, organs are useless for transplantation after only four or five minutes without blood flow. For organs to be viable, the patient must be breathing and the heart must be pumping. The harvest can’t wait for death as the public perceives death.
If this chilling reality causes you to opt out of being an organ donor, it is not enough to remove this designation from your driver’s license. You must contact officials in your state to make your decision binding. We have researched every state in the nation and provide a link for this purpose.
Learning the realities surrounding the noble idea of organ donation makes the blood run cold for most Americans. We can help our common man by sharing these truths with them.
Advocating for life,
Brad Mattes,
President, Life Issues Institute
How do I eliminate myself from organ donation?
Hi Fredrick, this link provides information in all 50 states that will help you remove yourself from the organ donation database: let us know if there is anything else we can help you with.