Organ Transplants & Health Care

When you make a living organ donation, you will not be paid. But the National Living Donor Assistance Center provides assistance to people who cannot afford the expenses they may incur when donating. This is not done to provide an incentive or payment... Full Answer

No. When you are designated as an organ donor, it has no effect on the medical care or considerations you receive. It only affects what happens after your death. Full Answer

There are living donors and deceased donors. Deceased donations require prior consent from the potential donor or from the donor's family. Some states allow the medical examiner to provide consent, in the case of an unclaimed body. So far, deceased... Full Answer

Scientists have found that pig's organs could be effectively transplanted into a human. In this video, Dr. Robin Miller explains why a specially-bred pig's organs can help humans. Full Answer

People who receive a new heart or liver face a lifetime of medication to keep their bodies from rejecting the new organ. The body is effectively "allergic" to the new organ, much as we would like it not to be. Full Answer

In the 1950s and early 1960s, patients needing an organ transplant were in a tragic bind. Transplants were surgically possible, but the body's immune response rapidly rejected organs donated by unrelated individuals. People either died or led... Full Answer

An organ donor is anyone - living or dead - who provides an organ. The person receiving the organ is called a recipient. The act of collecting an organ from a donor is called retrieval, or procurement. Nearly anyone of age and average health can be an... Full Answer

The waiting list for organs was 98,000, as of April 2008. More than half of the people on the transplant list in 2006 had to wait longer than a year for an organ. Each organ has an individual waiting list - but they all share a common characteristic.... Full Answer

More than a half-million organ-transplant surgeries have been done since that first one was performed. Although Ronald Herrick's decision was revolutionary, when his donated kidney became the first organ to be transplanted successfully, organ donation is... Full Answer

When you register to become an organ donor, you designate which of your organs that you wish to donate. Some people, for instance, may wish to donate only specific organs. Others wish to donate all of their organs, as well as their tissues and eyes. Full Answer