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Originally Posted by timmgirvan
Thank you for that info! I didn't know for sure.
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I'm not surprised- I love Googling when I don't know something, and this took some time to find an answer. There's lots on being a living organ donor, but not much on conditions for donating after death.
And it's quite possible it varies state to state. The one thing I am sure of- your doctor is not the one to ask, as he or she may not know (not surprising- disposing of dead body parts is not their job; keeping them alive is). Speaking of health needs and laws varying state to state-
I have hereditary hemochromatosis (HH), which is a genetic condition where my body stores too much iron. The only real treatment is donating blood. In NYS, that's easy; they'll happily take my blood at blood centers for free, so I get my system cleaned out and some cancer patient gets my platelets. or lovely iron-rich whole blood or whatever. But in other states, they won't let blood centers accept HH blood. For years they didn't know if it was genetic or an acquired condition so they erred on the side of caution and I think these states refuse to change their position because the hospitals make mucho $$ drawing blood from HH patients and don't want them to. They can't charge if they're going to use the blood, so they just throw it out so they can charge $100 and up for a ten-minute phlebotomy. And those who have insurance (like my dad) don't think twice about the fact that we have a blood shortage and it sucks that these greedy people would rather make $$ than lobby to change the law to save lives. They say if the Red Cross and the other organizations that won't take HH blood would change their policies, it would end the blood shortage in this country.