Among the reasons for this law is the concern of Congress that buying and selling of organs might lead to inequitable access to donor organs with the wealthy having an unfair advantage. The myth about rising from brain death is quite popular. However, it actually stems from a misunderstanding of brain death. Brain death occurs when a person has an irreversible, catastrophic brain injury which causes all brain activity to stop permanently. In such cases, heart and lung function can be maintained with the aid of artificial life support.
Brain death is an accepted medical, ethical, and legal principle.
In most cases, organs can be used only where brain death occurs. The urban legend is that organ distribution discriminates by race and, therefore, donation should be refused by minorities donor families since the organs may not be transplanted into minority patients. The preferred treatment for ESRD is kidney transplantation. It is very important to assure a close match between donor and recipient blood types and genetic make-up. Members of different races and ethnic groups are usually more genetically similar to members of their own group than they are to members of other racial and ethnic groups.