Jul 292010
A man diagnosed with amytrophic later sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease) wants to donate his organs even though he’s not facing imminent death. He claims that he’s “dead anyway” as a justification for granting his request. It seems unlikely that he’ll get his wish; no hospital or physician will volunteer to harvest the organs of someone who is still very much alive. And I hope someone tries to help him understand that he could still have several years of meaningful life ahead of him. I’m also a registered organ donor; as with ALS, SMA doesn’t affect the integrity of vital organs. But my organs are off-limits until I’m good and done with them.
I’m also guessing that this set of facts will be written into a future episode of House.
