The American Medical Association urges everyone to authorize organ and tissue donation because thousands of people die while waiting for organs or tissue for transplants.
The number of people in critical need of such donations is more than 27,000, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, and every 20 minutes a new name is added to the list. The need for organs is greater than the supply, and the gap is widening.
Compounding the shortage, many hospitals and physicians fail to ask the next of kin to donate, even if the donor has signed a consent card.
Federal and state laws give adults the right to decide ahead of time whether to donate their tissue and organs.
All Americans should sign donor cards or pledge to donate by signing the backs of their drivers' licenses.
In addition, to avoid confusion, individuals should make their families award of their wishes ahead of time.
Five percent of eligible adults in this country donate blood. If the same percentage of Americans donated tissue and organs, the nation's tissue and organ needs could be met and thousands of lives would be saved.
