May 11, 2008

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The Candidates’ Positions

Hillary Clinton
U.S. Senator from New York.

Barack Obama

U.S. Senator from Illinois.

John Edwards
Former U.S. Senator from North Carolina.

Mike Gravel
Former U.S. Senator (AK)

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Fast Facts

The following is a list of tranplantable organs and tissues: heart, lungs, kidney, liver, pancreas, and intestines.
In 2002, the majority of organ donors died of either stroke or a head trauma.
In 2005, nearly 70% of paients on the organ transplant list were waiting for a new kidney.
People receiving a donated organ are placed on a registry of transplant recipients.

Organ Donation

Organ transplantation, the surgical replacement of a patient's diseased or damaged organ with a healthy organ from a living or deceased donor, is generally a last resort for patients in the final stages of illness. Even so, there are far more people seeking transplants than there are doner organs available. In the U.S., more than 75,000 people are on the waiting list for transplants; only 1 in 4 will receive them in time to save their lives. This shortage has raised several practical and moral issues, such as how to increase the organ supply and how to distribute scarce organs.

Organ Donation Overview

In October 2000 National Basketball Association star Alonzo Mourning announced that he had a kidney disease. He continued to play for several more seasons, retiring temporarily in November 2003 due to poor kidney function. On December 19, 2003, Mourning received a kidney from a second cousin. Thepublic's response to Mourning's…>> (read more)