Law to aid gift of organs

Scott Bennett’s heart needs replacing, and he thinks a new federal law will make it happen sooner than later.

The Sammamish man, who once climbed Mount Rainier but now can’t climb stairs, has been waiting four years for a transplant. He doesn’t want to wait much longer for a suitable heart to be found.

That’s why he backed U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee’s effort to increase the supply of donated organs nationwide, including hearts, by deploying people in hospitals to speak with individuals and their families about becoming donors.

"Anything that increases awareness and straightens out misconceptions people have about organ donations and to help donors and their families make informed decisions will help me," Bennett said.

President Bush signed the Organ Donation and Recovery Improvement Act on April 5. The Senate and House of Representatives passed the legislation with near unanimity.

"This is a great day for those waiting for the gift of life," said Inslee, D-Mountlake Terrace, who has pursued the legislation since 2000.

Bennett, 46, suffers from cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the muscles around the heart have become very weak. He was diagnosed with it 10 years ago. For this husband and father of three, it means that the amount of blood pushed with each contraction of his heart is about half that of the heart of a healthy person.

He said doctors told him finding a new heart takes time. Part of the difficulty is locating one that can serve his 6-foot-1-inch body and match his type O blood.

Chances of success in finding a new heart should rise with the multifaceted law. It calls for distributing $25 million in grants aimed at boosting the number of donors and thus the nation’s supply of available organs. Congress must still approve the money later this year.

Under the law, $15 million would be set aside for public education and outreach campaigns; $5 million to cover nonmedical expenses of living donors, such as people who provide a kidney; and $2 million for improving the tracking of organ donations nationwide.

Any intensified effort to make people aware of the need will help, said Jack Roberts, 66, of Lynnwood, who had a heart transplant 11 years ago at the University of Washington Medical Center.

"I have seen people pass away because their organs have shut down, and they haven’t been able to get the transplant they need," he said. One of those was a brother who died in Utah awaiting a new heart.

For some, a major impediment is a fear that donors’ bodies are carved up and not suitable for viewing before burial. Not true, Roberts insisted.

"There are great surgeons out there. A person looks absolutely normal afterwards," he said.

The new law also includes $3 million to help put transplant coordinators into hospitals where they can meet with individuals and their families and facilitate transportation of donated organs. Today, two in-house coordinators employed by LifeCenter Northwest work at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

"When a doctor has done everything that he or she can do, it is an uncomfortable position to be talking about transplants," Bennett said. "Now they can leave the room, and the transplant coordinators help families get through the process. It makes it so much easier on the family."

Federal action should help the supply of donated organs keep pace with the demand for transplants, he said.

A study done last year found that the number of donors and donated organs increased at Harborview as they did in hospitals in San Francisco and Houston, where transplant coordinators already are in place.

LifeCenter Northwest, a nonprofit group that aided 493 transplants in Washington, Montana, Alaska and northern Idaho last year, has been allied with Inslee on beefing up federal support for organ donation programs.

The group also played a major role in passing a state law in 2003 that created Washington’s Living Legacy Registry. Adults can now confidentially register their decision on donating organs and tissue, and their wishes will be carried out upon their death without needing additional consent from surviving family members.

Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com.

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