Organ and Tissue Donation - Myths & Rumors?

Myth - If my driver's license says Organ Donor, I will get less care in the case of an emergency.

Fact - The top priority of all emergency technicians and doctors is to provide you with the best care and to save your life, no matter what. A person can only become an organ donor if the brain and brainstem have no activity and are completely dead, confirmed by two doctors not related to organ donation. The medical staff working to save you are always different from the transplant personnel.

Myth - My religion does not support organ donation and states that I should be buried whole.

Fact - Most major religions support organ donation, with the exception of very few. See religious views on organ donation here.

Myth - If I donate my organs, my family will have to pay for it.

Fact - A donor's family will never pay any expenses related to the donation of organs.

Myth - They will take my organs out before I am dead.

Fact - Two licensed physicians must make the diagnosis of brain death, a medically, legally and morally acceptable determination of death, before the potential donor's family is asked to donate organs.

Myth - My organs could be sold on the black market in other countries.

Fact - In the United States, organ donation is highly regulated, and organs are distributed under the rules of UNOS.

Myth - I can get paid a lot of money to donate an organ.

Fact - It is illegal for anyone to donate an organ for money in the United States.

Myth - Celebrities, wealthy and upper-class people get priority to receive organs.

Fact - Organs are never given to people for their class or stature. In the United States, organ donation is highly regulated, and organs are distributed under the rules of UNOS

Myth - People who are sick or over 60 cannot donate organs.

Fact - All people are potential donors. Doctors decide what can be donated at the time of death. Age and condition only pose specific limitations on what can be donated.

Myth - The person who receives my organs will find out who I am.

Fact - The most strict confidence is placed on the privacy of the donor, and no information is revealed unless the family of the donor requests it.

Myth - My funeral will be delayed if I donate my organs.

Fact - The funeral may be delayed only if the Coroner wishes to examine the body.

Myth - If I'm an organ donor my body will be mutilated

Fact - Careful surgical operations are used to remove organs when they are donated, and will not preclude an open-casket funeral.