How many of you knew that if you become an organ donor they give you paralyzing drugs?

Question

to keep you from thrashing around while they slice out your organs?

Don't believe me?

http://www.geocities.com/organdonate/AAACh2DonorsMayNeed.html

A third-generation freethinker

To garwy: Boy, do you have the wrong number. I'm a third-generation atheist.

To yogini eggnogini: How do you know they're not in pain? Because none of them have ever complained? If they are not given paralyzing drugs, they certainly appear to be in pain, and appearances are all we have to go on for those who cannot speak for themselves.

To Christ: Yes, everybody who gets embalmed gets their organs cut out, but only organ donors get their hearts cut out while they still are beating.

To Cheryl S: Guess that means we need more articles like this, eh?

To rod85: Here's the quote:

"Nurses get really, really upset. You stick the knife in and the pulse and blood pressure shoot up. If you don't give anything at all, the patient will start moving and wriggling around and it's impossible to do the operation."

Sounds like thrashing around to me.

Sure, they give paralyzing drugs (or muscle relaxants) to patients who are expected to survive surgery, but they also give them anaesthesia. It is my understanding that they usually do not give anaesthesia to a "heart-beating cadaver."

The semantic debate over whether a "heart-beating cadaver" is dead obscures the infinitely more important question: does she feel pain, terror, or grief when the surgeons saw open her rib cage and slice out her organs one by one? If paralyzing drugs are not administered, she certainly seems to be suffering, and apearances are all we have to go on for those who cannot speak for themselves.

Answer 1

Why do you think I checked no.

Answer 2

I read the entire page and this is where the fine line of being brain dead and body dead come into play. For example, my aunt recently suffered a brain aneurism and died. Whenever her husband found her, she had no pulse and to me, that mean she was completely dead. She was an organ donor and I don't believe that she would have suffered during the harvesting of her organs. On the other hand, if someone comes into the ER non responsive and if they are given a CT Scan they can determine brain activity. If nothing registers, then the family has the choice to "unplug" the patient. I saw an episode of Code Blue where a young man came in and was found to be brain dead and he family decided to "unplug" him and go ahead with organ donation. The only thing is, they didn't remove him from life support until after they finished. In my eyes, he was still alive.

This is a very difficult subject because you are going to have the medical facts on death verses religious beliefs on death

Answer 3

I'm an anesthesiologist. I know that paralyzing drugs are given but they are not used to keep the patient from "thrashing around" during surgery. They are used to provide muscle relaxation to allow the surgeon facilitate surgical exploration. Paralyzing agents are routinely used for many surgeries, such as an appendectomy or laparascopic cholecystectomy. They are not used simply to keep the patient from "thrashing around" either.

I'm not sure why you are trying to scare people about organ donation. If you are indeed a freethinker, you would probably like to see the link below.

Answer 4

Having worked in an Operating Room, I know for a fact that amnesiacs are administered along with the anesthesia...so you don't remember waking up on the table under the knife, if you do.
Nice little way to prevent lawsuits; eh?!?!
BTW? I looked into donating my Isles of Langerhorns for a friend who is Diabetic. Too many deaths from that surgery in my area. So, I donate blood, & bone marrow, if I'm a match.

Answer 5

No that's not true and I don't need to read the article to know that.

Give a paralyzing drug to a donor and that drug will paralyze the organs in the donor and prevent them from doing their job in the recipient.

For example what sense would it make to transplant a paralyzed heart into someone else which can never beat?

Pastor Art

Answer 6

Referencing a geocities site proves nothing, sorry.

Everyone gets their organs taken out when they die, unless it's a death so gruesome there are no organs to remove. Part of the imbalming process includes the removal of all internal organs (heart, liver, kidneys, etc). And it's not like this is something new. Even the ancient Egyptians practiced removing organs before burial. It helps with the preservation of the body.

Answer 7

That Dr. who isn't an organ donor should be ashamed! If I'm dead, they can take what they want. I really don't care if I have a few painful moments at the end if it saves someone's life (see, I'm like Jesus!). My husband knows when to give in and let me go, and that's the more important conversation to have.

Answer 8

Depends if you think innate reflexive physiological response equates to a live conscious person. Electrify a nerve and the leg twitches, does that mean they're trying to run?

Prior to any higher consciousness foetus' have inbuit pre-programmed response to stimuli. Its part and parcel of the whole central nervous system package.

Answer 9

Never heard of that. I shall read this article...

"I think you’ve actually called somewhere the notion of brain death a medical fiction."

This information seems to suggest that the brain is not responsible for our consciousness. Great link, by the way...

Answer 10

This type of article is one of the reasons we do not have enough organ donors.

Answer 11

I didn't. Not that it changes my decision to be an organ donor.

How is this linked to Religion?