New York state currently has the second lowest number of registered organ donors in the country, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a release.

Schneiderman said only 26 percent of New Yorkers are registered organ donors, compared with the national average of about 50 percent.

Nancy Ryan, director of marketing and community relations at Finger Lakes Donor Recovery Network, said the state has historically ranked among the lowest in the country in terms of the number of registered organ donors.

Ryan said one of the reasons that led to New York lagging behind the national registration rate of 52 percent is the process to enroll in the state’s donor registry.

Before 2015, enrolling in the NYS Donate Life Registry was optional on the section on the forms at the Department of Motor Vehicles, where Ryan said most people register to be an organ donor.

“Many visitors to the DMV would simply ignore the option to register and put off their decision until another time,” she said.

Ryan said donors who want to join the registry by any means other than through the DMV are required to fill out a paper enrollment form and mail it to the NYS Department of Health, the organization that oversees the state’s donor registry.

“The process is cumbersome, compared to many other states that provide a fully electronic format for registering as an organ donor,” Ryan said.

The license renewal cycle in the state is every eight years, she said. It’s very possible that for someone who intended to join the donor registry while at the DMV passed away before getting the chance to do so, Ryan added.

Arthur Caplan, director of the division of medical ethics at New York University, said he isn’t sure why New York in particular is in great demand for organ donors. He said the state or foundations should increase the awareness of organ donation.

“New York has a huge demand for organs, longer than average waiting lists,” he said. “Too many die here while waiting for an organ.”

Caplan said the need for organ donors is not only an issue in the country but across the globe, urging people to sign up to be a donor.

Schneiderman said the number of New Yorkers on an organ and tissue transplant waitlist is the third-highest in the country.

About 10,000 New Yorkers are currently on the waiting list managed by the United Network for Organ Sharing, a private and non-profit organization that administers the nation’s organ transplant system under contract with the federal government — and these numbers continue to grow, Schneiderman said.

The biggest misconception about organ donation is that people think they are too old or not healthy enough to be an organ donor, Ryan said.

“The fact is, organs have been donated and transplanted from donors in their 90s, and medical conditions like hypertension and diabetes do not necessarily rule out donation,” Ryan said.

She said doctors and medical tests will determine what organs can be donated to help others at the time of death.

“It’s important to know that there are no restrictions to signing-up to be an organ donor, other than the enrollee must be at least 18 years of age,” Ryan said.

However, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo passed legislation in August that allows 16- and 17-year-olds to become organ donors in the state.

Ryan said one of the benefits for people documenting their wishes to organ donation is that it relieves their family of having to make that decision on their behalf.

“Making your decision ahead of time is a gift to your family,” she said.

There are around 10,000 people waiting in New York for a life-saving organ transplant, with about 600 of those in the Finger Lakes region. Ryan said more than 500 children and adults died waiting for a transplant in the state because of the shortage of donated organs last year.

“Every day they wake up wondering if today is the day they will receive the gift of life from a donor hero,” Ryan said. “Because of the gift, they have a second chance at life — to see the people they love, to do the things they love and live life to the fullest.”

Published on October 19, 2016 at 12:49 am

Contact Chieh: chchen@syr.edu