Death Row inmate wants to donate his organs after execution

JonnyPistachio

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42667886/ns ... ealth_care

But Longo figures that he alone could save eight lives through his death, offering his heart, lungs kidneys, liver and other tissues. That would put a dent right away in Oregon’s waiting list, which includes 768 requests, including 13 hearts, 122 livers and 628 kidneys.

Part of the problem with accepting organs from prisoners, especially after executions, is a practical one, says Dr. Robert Metzger, past medical director with UNOS.

Organ donations must be performed in hospitals and executions are held in prisons. The three-drug cocktail used in lethal injection may render organs unsuitable for transplant. And, with high rates of diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C, jail and prison inmates are considered high-risk donors by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and subject to even stricter testing and lifestyle scrutiny than typical organ donors.

But the core of the problem is philosophical, says Orlowski, director of the association of organ procurement organizations. The specter of China, where two-thirds of donated organs are harvested from prisoners, haunts U.S. transplant experts.

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I'm not sure how i'd feel about receiving organs from someone who was just injected with that 3 drug cocktail, but I guess for some it could be an only option.

Would you be open to receiving an internal organ from a death row inmate?

sparky_fry

Yes if I needed them. I'm sure most people in that situation would take an inmates organ over dying. If this is the case though I doubt that the execution would be through lethal injection to keep the organs healthy.