“As the opioid epidemic has skyrocketed in the United States, a rise in the number of drug overdose deaths has contributed to a rise in organ transplants, made possible by overdose-death donors, across the country.
A study published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine on Monday now reveals just how much of an increase there has been in the number of overdose-death donors, from being only 1.1% of all donors in 2000 to 13.4% in 2017.
The study suggests that a rise in organ donations from drug overdose deaths could help America’s organ shortage — but it also shows that between 2000 and 2017, many organs from overdose-death donors were not used to save lives when they could have been.”
Read more at: https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/16/health/drug-overdoses-organ-transplants-study/index.html?no-st=1524249770
Source: CNN.com – April 17, 2018