March 10, 2003

Washington, D.C. — Touring Hartford Hospital's organ transplant unit, where he met with physicians, families and patients, Sen. Chris Dodd today announced the recent introduction of legislation encouraging more individuals to become organ donors. The Organ Donation Recovery and Improvement Act, which Dodd is co-authoring with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), seeks to increase the number of organ transplants nationwide– a procedure that saves thousands of lives each year. Currently, there are more than 700 Connecticut residents waiting for an organ transplant.

"Far too many families in Connecticut and across the nation are forced to endure the anguish of watching a loved-one suffer while waiting for an organ transplant," said Dodd. "We must work to increase public awareness of the importance of organ donation, provide funding to improve the science of donation and recovery, and most importantly, encourage individuals and families to give consent to donate organs and give so many a second chance at life."

Last year, 93 Connecticut residents donated organs, and 212 received a transplant. Sadly, 49 people died in Connecticut last year while waiting for a transplant. Since 1988, more than 40,000 patients nationwide have died before receiving a transplant, with 6,125 lives lost in 1999 alone. While organ donations have increased in recent years, the waiting list has continued to outpace growth.

The bill, introduced in the Senate late last week, offers a comprehensive approach to increasing organ donation, while improving the overall process of organ donation and recovery. Specifically, the bill would improve coordination and evaluation of existing federal organ donation and transplantation research activities. It would establish demonstration projects to discover new opportunities to increase organ donation. The bill would also enhance the coordination of public awareness and the education of health professionals.

The science of organ transplantation has been improved and refined since its inception, but too often organ donation efforts are conducted under the same auspices and understandings as they were twenty years ago. The bill establishes a strong evidence-based approach to enhancing organ donation and recovery and improving our understanding of this process.

Dodd, ranking member of the Subcommittee on Children and Families, has long been an advocate for organ donation. He fought successfully to save the certification of the Northeast Organ Procurement Organization in Hartford, which allowed the group to continue approaching families about donation, arranging transportation of organs, and providing bereavement services for donor families. In addition, he and Senator Mike DeWine (R-OH), helped launch the First Family campaign, with the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, to ask families, not just individuals, to pledge to each other to be organ and tissue donors in the event of an untimely death.

Learn More: Photos from Dodd's visit

---

• Return to Press Releases
• Return to Main Page