Yes, absolutely. This is perhaps the most common myth about organ donation. When a patient arrives at the hospital, the number one priority is to save his or her life. Doctors and other medical personnel have both a moral and legal obligation to give their patients the best care possible. Organ donation is not considered until every effort to save the patient’s life has been exhausted.
Most organ donations are from patients who have irreversible brain function, require a ventilator, and – after evaluation, testing and documentation – are declared brain dead.
Brain death means the person has died; the ventilator is no longer keeping the person alive, it is artificially supporting the function of the heart and lungs. This differs from a patient in a coma, who is still alive and will not be considered a potential organ donor. Doctors do extensive evaluation, testing and documentation to determine if brain death has occurred.
When death is imminent or death has been declared, the Michigan Organ Donor Registry will be checked to see if the patient intended to donate. By law, the medical team treating the patient is completely separate from the transplant team.