One of the most gut-wrenching tasks for physicians is to ask grieving families to consider organ donation. But broaching the topic may also bring solace to these families. One of the most gut-wrenching tasks for physicians is to ask grieving families to consider organ donation. But broaching the topic may also bring solace to these families. Steve Busalacchi has more.
Patients die every day because the demand for human organs is much greater than the supply.
The State Medical Society of Wisconsin's Doctor Ted Gronski knows this all too well, as he has watched people die waiting for an organ that never comes. Milwaukee transplant physician Gronski says it was even difficult for him to approach the family of a dying patient when he worked in the intensive care unit. Doctor Gronski says more of his colleagues must find the courage to start this conversation. Family members, on the other hand, need to become more aware of how their loved one can, through organ donation, help reduce the shortage-and the deaths that go with it. With the State Medical Society's On-Air Health Care report, I'm Steve Busalacchi.