Maribel's Kidney Story » Donate Life

SB 1395 – Alquist Altruistic Living Donor Registry

Maribel — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 17:15:15 +0000

Last Tuesday, April 20th I got to experience Lobby Day for the first time at the state capital building with Donate Life – Golden State Donor Services. It was a great day met several senators to encourage their support for SB 1395 – Alquist Altruistic Living Donor Registry which was presented to legislature on Wednesday, April 21 and passed! The Summary provided by Donate Life states:

The intent of this bill is to increase altruistic living kidney donation by amending existing law to authorize the creation of an Altruistic Living Donor Registry for the State of California. This bill will also increase deceased organ donation by strengthening the partnership between Donate Life California and the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Conceptually, the Altruistic Living Donor Registry will capture the intent of potential altruistic donors among California residents, provide reliable and accurate information about living donation, and facilitate the process of evaluation at a transplant center.

Thanks to our partnership with the DMV, 6.4 million Californians have enrolled in the Donate Life California Registry. However, this number is equivalent to only 23% of licensed drivers.

The current DMV form has a ‘Yes’ checkbox only; so if the box is not checked, DMV clerks are not authorized to ask if the customer meant to leave the question unanswered.

I also sat through & supported extended medical bill for anti-rejection medicine coverage. This was a great experience & blessed to be apart promoting the quality of care and organ donation for patients like me! It was neat to see the process of a bill being presented into legislature and to be able to testify on its behalf. I broke the rules and said more than I should have but needed to explain that I was 8 week post transplant right there is a miracle for me to be up there. This shows how Organ Donation saves lives!

This bill is definitely near and dear to my heart since one altruistic live donor started my chain of 8 that ultimately gave me my gift of life. This bill would create more of an awareness to the choices for organ donation. My participation in these 2 bills with donate life – GSDS definitely meant a lot to me since it has a personal effect on my life! This only gives me a vision in what God’s cotinued purpose for my life!

Press surrounding these two bills:

California Legislators Consider The First Ever Living Organ Donor Registry

www.huffingtonpost.com

When a generous stranger decides to donate a kidney to save a life, their decision is often met with skepticism from medical staff. This was the case when a young woman who barely knew David Jacobs volunteered to give her kidney to save him.

SB 1395 presentation with Apple’s Steve Jobs backed by Governor Arnold Scwarzeneggar on March 19:

AB 998 (John A. Perez): Medi-Cal: organ transplants: anti-rejection medication.

www.aroundthecapitol.com

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST AB 998, as introduced, John A. Perez. Medi-Cal: organ transplants:anti-rejection medication. Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, administered by theState Department ..

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Donor Reunion Slideshow

Maribel — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 23:32:33 +0000

Donor Reunion at UC Davis March 31, 2010

This free slideshow design made with Smilebox

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CRITICAL NEED!

Maribel — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:24:09 +0000

CRITICAL NEED IN THE MINORITY COMMUNITY

Minorities represent 50 percent of the more than 93,000 patients currently awaiting transplants, yet they represent only about 25 percent of those donating organs.

The risk of end-stage kidney disease for some minorities (African American, Hispanics, and Native American) is three to four times higher than for the Caucasian population. Blacks and other minorities are hard hit by hypertension, diabetes, and kidney disorders… diseases which lead to organ failure. In fact, of the 45,758 people nationwide waiting for kidneys, 21,697 are African American (35%), 10,282 are Hispanic (17%), and 4,502 are Asian (7%).

Also, African-Americans and Hispanics between the ages of 45 and 65 have twice as much diabetes as do Caucasians in this age group.

Because the minority population continues to grow (they now make up approximately 20% of the US population), the need for minority donation and transplantation can be anticipated to grow as well.

While the number of minorities waiting for a transplant continues to grow, minority organ donations lag behind those of the white population. A breakdown by race in 2004 shows that deceased donations are overwhelmingly from the white population (70%). The black population accounts for 14%; Hispanic, 13%; and Asian, less than 1%.

It’s critical to increase the availability of minority donors, in order to save lives within those communities. Fact is the best matches between donors and recipients often lie between members of the same race. Currently, the lack of minority organ donors decreases the number of well-matched kidneys and pancreases available for minority recipients.

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