Pledging to give in order to receive

LifeSharers members pledge to donate organs to fellow members first

By Jerry Davich

Times Staff Writer

August 9, 2004

Is it fair to have a club whose members promise to donate their body organs after death to fellow members first, before being offered to a national waiting list? Or is it simply a creative way to help committed organ donors get their fair share of organs while pumping up overall donor registries?

LifeSharers -- with 39 Indiana members, nearly 100 in Illinois and a few locally -- has been as controversial as innovative since its inception two years ago. LifeSharers claims people who have agreed to donate their organs when they die typically receive only 30 percent of the organs transplanted in this country. And that's not fair, said founder Dave Undis. "There is nothing unethical about asking your organs be given to other organ donors," said Undis, who lives in Tennessee. "It would be unethical to disregard your wishes and give your organs to someone else."

Plus, with 17 people dying a day while waiting for donated organs, Undis and fellow LifeSharers members say their efforts can only help the critical shortage situation. But, although LifeSharers includes members from the medical community, its philosophy isn't embraced by some groups, most notably the United Network for Organ Sharing, which operates the national organ allocation system under law. "(We're) concerned that people who enroll in LifeSharers are led to believe they would automatically receive priority for donated organs," said UNOS spokeswoman Anne Paschke. "They will not receive any priority."To date, no LifeSharers members have died in circumstances that would have permitted recovery of their organs.

Selfishness or altruism

Tom Kennedy, a Valparaiso University ethicist, said LifeSharers seems to appeal squarely to people's self-interest, though there is nothing particularly unethical or unfair about the group's objectives.

"There's nothing particularly noble about them either," he said.

Calumet College of St. Joseph President Dennis Rittenmeyer, an outspoken organ donor advocate, didn't know LifeSharers existed. But after initial impressions of it being an elitist club, he believes LifeSharers is a positive alternative to organ donor efforts.

"Too many healthy organs are getting buried and burned," he said.

Some LifeSharers members admit to looking out for number one, as the national organ recipient waiting list grows five times faster than the rate of organ donation.

"My reason for joining is selfishness," said Tim Van Eck, 54, of South Holland.

Americans, he said for example, feed their families first even though others in this country go hungry

"We all recognize this is wrong, but we do it anyway. Why? Because we are selfish," he said. "Why wouldn't we make certain there is an ample supply of organs for our families and like-minded individuals rather than to some stranger who is willing to take, but not give?"

The LifeSharers philosophy makes more sense than the current system of organs being given to those who are most critically in need of them, he said.

"The simplest solution would be a mandatory rule that potential recipients of legal age must have previously agreed to be donors," he said.

UNOS' Paschke said federal laws governing organ transplantation do not provide for any consideration of non-medical factors in the allocation process, such as membership in LifeSharers.

Undis disagrees, saying several non-medical factors play a role, including location, race, ability to pay and status as a former live organ donor. (Former live organ donors get four extra points of priority in the allocation process.)

Plus, LifeSharers is designed to comply with federal and state laws, he said.

As far as claims of LifeSharers' me-first mentality, Undis said people who decide to not donate their organs are "spectacularly selfish."

LifeSharers, with 2,400 members in all 50 states, requires a six-month waiting period before members become active. This encourages people to join while they're healthy, and discourages them from waiting to join only when they find out they need an organ, members say.

Jerry Davich can be reached at jdavich@nwitimes.com or (219) 933-3376.

Copyright © 2004 NWI Times.

This article posted August 27, 2004