How to get off the organ donor registry

The other night I got an email from someone and they asked me how to get off the Organ Donor registry. They were not the first to ask. I suspect that to happen as more people find out the truth about “brain death”… that you are still alive when you are pronounced “brain dead”.

First, rescinding your desire to donate your organs at the DMV or Secretary of State is NOT enough,you will still be on the organ donor registry.

Revocation is not enough, you must document a Refusal.

The Revised Anatomical Gift Act, Section 8, takes away from families the right or authority to consent to, amend or revoke anatomical donations made by others during their lifetimes, even though alert relatives might make different decisions based on current circumstances and complete information of their loved ones. Byrne,Paul.M.D. Do Your Organs Belong To The Government. 2012

The Revised Anatomical Gift Act states that a revocation of an anatomical gift “does not equal a refusal.” If you change your mind and want to get off the organ registry; you not only have to revoke your prior anatomical gift, but also issue a Formal Refusal.

How to Write a Formal Refusal

1) Write or type up a letter, (two copies) stating you no longer want to be on the Organ Donation Registry.

2) Have it signed by two witnesses, have it sign by a notary and send to your Regional Organ Procurement Organization.

3) Keep a copy for yourself. Take it with you when you travel. It has to be put in YOUR file at the hospital if you are ever injured and can not speak for yourself.

4) Have it accessible to other family members.

If you have registered in two or more states and change your mind about donation, be sure to remove yourself from ALL donor registries.

One other thing, tell your family and friends of your decision, why you are not going to be an Organ Donor. They will be asked “what you would have wanted if you are on a ventilator.

Classes of People

The Revised Anatomical Gift Act allows for certain “classes” of people to make the decision to harvest your organs if you have not donated.

Permission descends from the highest class of people to the next and so forth when a search is done for someone who is “reasonably available”. They did not define “reasonably available” in the Act.

That list includes the person’s health care agent, adult grandchildren and close friends.

One of my friends son’s was hit by a car walking home from work in Ann Arbor. The doctors at U of M told her he was “brain death”, to pull the plug and harvest his organs. She called me up two years ago before I knew anything about “brain death” and ask me to pray with her and what she should do.

We prayed together and then I said, ” _______ you are ______ mom, you know best…go with your gut.”

She refused to take him off life support. Then they started asking his friends, “Did _____ ever tell you he didn’t want to be on life support?”

My friend’s son is fine, walks, talks and works. I’m interviewing them and will be doing a blog post on what they experienced.

Thank God I gave her that answer as I didn’t understand one thing about “brain death” at that time. I post a lot of Friday success stories yet you really don’t hear much about them in the United States. I have a recent one coming on Friday that is mind-blowing.

Here are the cards you need to sign, get notarized and “carry” with you.

I can send them to you in a pdf file on how to preserve and protect life and sign a refusal for easier printing if you email me or ask for me to send it to you in a comment below.

Better yet go to Life Guardian Foundation and download it.

Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (UAGA)

History of the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act

The Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (UAGA) was originally enacted in 1968, and was the first law governing organ and tissue donation in the United States. Prior to its passage, organ donation was handled on a state-by-state basis and systems varied significantly across the country.

This law was promptly adopted by all 50 states.

The purpose of the 1968 UAGA was to increase the number of available organs for transplant by making it easier for people to make anatomical gifts.

In 1972, the UAGA took this initiative further by mandating that uniform donor cards be recognized as a legally binding document in all 50 states.

The Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (R-UAGA), intended to strengthen the donor’s decision to make an anatomical gift, passed in 1987. But, only 26 states passed it.

The Revised Anatomical Gift Act of 2006 Summary

The Revised Anatomical Gift Act of 2006, was passed to simplify the process of being an organ donor. Because this is the current law, that is what I am going to list below. They are the critical things you need to know about this act.

The UAGA strengthens the power of others to override an individuals decision to make or refuse to make an anatomical gift.
If you don’t prepare a Refusal Document, your or your loved ones organs may still be taken by consent from those close to the individual.
Health care agents under a Health Care Power of Attorney can make the decision.
In “some” cases parents or guardians have the power.
The law set up “classes” of people who can make the decision to donate after that person has died. Remember “Brain Death” is a legal definition of death not true death. (friends,grandparents,other relatives) One of my friend’s son was in a car accident in Michigan and at the hospital while the mother was saying no to taking him off life support, they kept asking his friends, “Did SB ever tell you he wanted to donate?”
“Reasonably available” means that if the Organ requestor’s can not find either the parents or the health care agents with the power of attorney. (phone call?)
The decision to donate can be made by a “class of people”, if the majority of this class supports the decision to donate. (friends,grandparents,other relatives, any adult who exhibited special care or concern)
Minors if eligible under the law are embowered to be a donor. If the minor donor dies under the age of 18, it “seems appropriate that the minor’s parents should be able to revoke the gift.” However, the minor’s parents cannot revoke the anatomical gift if the minor donor later dies over the age of 18. In a state that provides that a license issued to a minor is good for five years and the minor applies for the license at age 17, the minor can make an anatomical gift on the driver’s license at age 17 and need not reaffirm the gift for another five years. Furthermore, once the minor reaches age 18, the minor’s parents cannot revoke the gift.
Under Section 8 of the 2006 UAGA, which strengthens the language regarding the finality of a donor’s anatomical gift, it clearly states that “there is no reason to seek consent from the donor’s family because the family has no legal right to revoke the gift.”
The UAGA exhorted the Organ Procurement agents to stop the practice the practice of seeking affirmation (ex. from parents, added by me) when the donor who has clearly made a gift.This results in unnecessary delays in procuring organs and the occasional reversal of the donor’s wishes.
The 2006 UAGA provides that a person acting in accordance with the act or with the applicable anatomical gift law of another state, or that attempts to do so in good faith, is not liable for his or her actions in a civil action, criminal prosecution or administrative proceeding.
The 2006 UAGA provides that a general direction in a power of attorney or health-care directive that the patient does not wish to have life prolonged by the administration of life-support systems should not be construed as a “refusal to donate.”
The Revised UAGA (2006), section 21, creates a default rule requiring that measures necessary to ensure the medical suitability of an organ for transplantation may not be withheld or withdrawn. This directly interferes with the Patient Self Determination Act of 1991. (means giving medications to preserve the organs that will not help the cure the patient)
The 2006 UAGA directs procurement organizations and coroners and medical examiners to cooperate in maximizing donation opportunities.

While there are many concerns about the Revised Anatomical Gift Ac it also strengthens the right of a person not to donate their own organs by signing a refusal, which also prevents others from overriding such decision not to donate his/her own organs (Section 7).

What to do since the Revised Anatomical Gift Act of 2006

The time is now to give instructions to everyone you know that you want your life protected and preserved. Tell them you do not want your death hastened or your life cut short. You must explicitly instruct them in writing by two witnesses that you DO NOT want to be an Organ Donor.

I have now written three posts on the laws of Organ Transplantation in the United States. I have written these so you know what to do if your loved one is injured, in a coma and in a trauma or ICU unit.

1) The Uniform Determination of Death Act

2) “The Dead Donor Rule”

3) Brain Death Is A Theory

Get familiar with these and the Uniformed Anatomical Gift Act, so you know what will be said to you in light of the laws.

The doctors and Organ Procurement Agents will weave these into the conversation when they talk to you.

Archives For Uniform Anatomical Gift Act