I am going to add my $.02 on this topic...I have had my organ donor card signed ever since I got my driver's license. My best friend in high school was killed right before my senior year in high school started. Plus I am a Paramedic. (Just some background as to why I feel so strongly about this issue...)
-She traveled to North Carolina and was put on the organ donor list from Mexico. I had not heard that she traveled here illegally, or how her bills were being paid. She was not a citizen of the US. (this has been established by previous posters here on GC.)
-When the heart and lungs could not be matched by the regular matching standards of UNOS, the started calling hospitals and offering the organs. Duke was called. This is where the error took place. The surgeon took the organs for Jessica without confirming that they were the "right" blood-type. Therefore, Duke is placing additional steps in place to prevent another tragedy from happening. They didn't realize till the transplant was almost completed that the error had happened. In some cases, transplants of different blood types can be done (
BUT it is VERY rare!)
-Realize that only 11 heart and lung transplants total were done last year in the US, 4 under the age of 13 total were done in the US last year. Jessica received
TWO in just over two weeks. This is incredibly odds. It is a sad outcome what has happened to her.
-To declare brain death, it takes two physicians that are not involved with the case. Not to mention extensive tests. It is not decided very easily and it is not done "lightly." Unfortunatly, it also not something that you can get a second opinion on.
-I am sure that the surgeons and anyone involved in Jessica's case from the nurses to the physicians to the spokespeople at Duke University are VERY sorry that this has happened. Plus I am sure they have expressed this to Jessica's family. They are angry, sad, hurt, etc. I don't doubt there will be some major type of settlement in this case. Not to mention many money hungry malpractice lawyers banging down the doors to represent the family. We will probably see a book deal/movie deal for this. (Sorry, I am a bit angered at this point...
)
-All in all, it is a very sad point. Everyone has lost in this tragedy. In the end though,
SIGN YOUR DONOR CARDS!! People can only benefit from organ donation. You will see tighter standards within UNOS.
Okay, I am getting off my soapbox. I am sorry for the length of my post. I am sorry for the rambling. I am sure there is more that I want to say that I have missed. Or stuff I repeated.