Yayo Thoughts: Organ Donations, or how I told my Doctors to not care for me properly so they can harvest my Organs as soon as possible
I always found Organ Donation kind of a sketchy idea. Well-meaning, but sketchy.
How do I know a Doctor won't let me simply die if he knows I am a donor and not care for me properly?
Nobody can give an answer to that question without fully relying on the integrity of the doctor and putting your entire trust into their hands. Not to mention, let us pray to god that Doctor is not corrupt. Dealing with Organs is a thing. Its a corrupt business.
I have found an answer on Yahoo Answers (not usually my first choice in getting answers to my question, but oh well):
The Person answers the question "If you're an organ donor, will hospitals let you die quicker?" with:
"It makes absolutely no sense, first of all. A doctor, who's so worried about someone else who will die without a transplant, is then going to let an ADDITIONAL person die - in order to donate the organs?. Where is the logic?"
Who is to say that the Doctor is worried? There might be a celebrity on the other site, who is waiting for the donation. Not just that. It is a star he really likes. And...oh shit. He is going to die too, if he does not receive a new heart in the next 48 hours.
The Celeb might also have paid a little more to, you know, get him an organ, no matter what. If money comes into play, ethics often go out the window. Don't give me crap about it is not allowed. Of course all of this happens under the hand and illegally, and we will never know until after the donor has been killed for a nice sum.
"It's illegal to buy and sell organs in the US. The doctor gains nothing from this financially."
Just because something is illegal, does not mean nobody will do it.
Here is just one example:
"In 2009, an FBI bust in New Jersey unearthed a market where kidneys were 'bought' for $10,000 and sold for $160,000. In January 2015, a year long investigation saw the FBI raid a Chicago crematorium that was being investigated for body parts sale. Hundreds of body parts were found, which were allegedly being resold for scientific research to medical research organizations. According to the report, the company involved lied to donors that the remains would not be sold. But the bodies were dismembered and sold; elbows for $850, heads for $500 etc." (O).
See. This naive mentality of 'I am a good person so everyone is' leads to organs not going where they are supposed to.
"USA Today conducted an investigative report in 2006 and found that illegal body harvesting is very lucrative in the U.S. due to the high demand of body parts. The investigation revealed that from 1987- 2006 (19 years), over 16,800 families had pursued lawsuits stating that their loved ones body parts were illegally sold for an estimated $6 million dollars. That amount is based on figures obtained from federal and local investigators, public organizations and medical universities." (Small-Jordan).
In the same article by Small-Jordan it even states that "[...] there are also extreme cases in which people are outright murdered for their organs. Every year, there are suspicious deaths, in which the victim had their organs removed." (Small-Jordan).
She then goes on to list a couple of examples. I am going to post a picture of her examples; (source at the bottom of the blog):
I want to direct your attention to the first example she lists, the 51 year old painter. Keep in mind, that the donation of his organs was done without the families consent, and it all happened under mysterious circumstances. Circumstances aside. The fact that this happened without consent proves my hypothesis of the eagerness of Doctors or medical staff (this happened at a University Hospital after all) to get their hands on some nice, juicy and fresh organs. Even if it means killing someone for it. It only takes one corrupt Doctor to slip with his scalpel to end your life quicker.
Of course, this could all happen, even if you don't register to donate your organs. Why give any more incentive to the doctors to 'accidentally' screw up though? Might as well take as many precautions as possible.
"In the US, organ matching is a very sophisticated and highly regulated process, coordinated by the United Network for Organ Sharing [...]." (The Yahoo Answer from before).
Oh yeah, it is so sophisticated that "[...] the FBI [...] [still] has made many arrests." (Small-Jordan).
"Organ donation is strictly regulated in the US, yet a black market is alive and well. Typically a broker will team up with a funeral home director, forging consent forms and a death certificate to harvest human tissue before the body is cremated or buried. Sometimes organs are harvested from a living victim for compensation. In the worst case it involves kidnapping for the purpose of organ harvesting. Always at the end of the chain is a wealthy recipient, willing to pay big bucks with no questions asked." [my emphasis] (Archer).
The Yahoo Answer also mentioned how Doctors do not profit from selling organs. This is wrong, as Dale Archer says: "The profits are huge, and money is a temptation many brokers and doctors [my emphasis] just cannot resist. In 2010 WHO estimated about 11,000 organs were obtained on the black market. WHO also claims that an organ is sold every hour of every day, 365/7." (Archer).
I know, I have been throwing quotes left and right. I really want to illustrate how corrupt the organ donation stuff can be. We should trust no one, at least not without 1000 legal hurdles before the doctor can get a hold of your organs.
The Yahoo Answer closes with: "Be a hero - the last thing you may do is to save up to 7 other lives." (Yahoo Answer).
Be a hero my ass. A hero to some Mafia Boss who paid off a Doctor? No, thank you. Sometimes I prefer living over being a hero.
I am not saying that you should never consider donating. However, you should be smart and cautious about it. Corruption can and will be everywhere, and I feel like becoming a Donor just turns you into a medical outlaw. Getting shot at by everyone without remorse.
References:
Archer, Dale. "Body Snatchers: Organ Harvesting For Profit." Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, LLC, 13 November 2013, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/reading-between-the-headlines/201311/body-snatchers-organ-harvesting-profit
Small-Jordan, Dianne. "Organ Harvesting, Human Trafficking, and the Black Market." Decoded Science, 23 March 2016, https://www.decodedscience.org/organ-harvesting-human-trafficking-black-market/56966
O, Ade. "10 Body Parts You Can Legally Sell For Big Bucks." TheRichest, 27 May 2015, https://www.therichest.com/rich-list/10-body-parts-you-can-legally-sell-for-big-bucks/
"If you're an organ donor, will hospitals let you die quicker?" Yahoo! Answers, Oath Inc., 2011, https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101127085412AAImaGR