Donations of Life

Introduction:
After contracting a mild case of the flu, doctors told 21-year-old Lisa that her heart would last her for no more than 3 more months. Her only hope was to get a new heart. A month later, 20-year-old Sally was in an automobile accident and suffered severe head injures and died. Her heart could have saved Lisa's life. When Sally's parents were asked if they would allow their daughter's heart to be donated, however, their hysteria and grief over just losing their young child was too great. They refused to donate Sally's heart, and less than a month later, Lisa also died. Unfortunately, this is an all too common experience among potential organ donors. This is a story told by, a heart surgeon, Dr. Robert Sade.
Cadaver organ transplantation saves many lives; however, it could be saving more. Too many people unnecessarily die each year due to lack of organ donations.   Not only have I spent hours discussing such issues with my uncle, who is the medical director of LifePoint, South Carolinas organ procurement agency, but I have done some other research as well.
As a result of this study, I have concluded that the problem of organ donation could be solved or significantly lessened if financial incentives were legalized for donors or their families.
(Transition:   First, lets start with problem about the organ waiting list)
Body:
I. S.L. Gortman wrote that the problem is that more than 6,000 people on the transplant waiting list unnecessarily die every year because the donation rate is so low: less than half of potential donors actually become donors.
A. According to the United Network of Sharing Organs, one patient is added to the transplant waiting list every 14 minutes.   Also, One patient on the waiting list dies every 80 minutes while waiting for an organ that never came.
C. Ever since the early 1980s, there have been more people wait-listed than there are available organs.
1. S.L. Gortman also wrote that only about 35% of suitable donors donate,... [continues]

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