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Wednesday, September 15, 2004 Press Release SOURCE: LifeSharers Twila Brase Named Advisor to LifeSharersCitizens' Council on Health Care President to Assist Organ Donor Network NASHVILLE, Tenn. – September 15, 2004 – Twila Brase, R.N., President of the Citizens' Council on Health Care, has agreed to serve as an advisor to LifeSharers. LifeSharers is a non-profit network of organ donors that offers members preferred access to the organs of fellow members. It was launched in 2002 to help alleviate the shortage of human organs and tissue needed for transplant operations. That shortage kills over 6,000 Americans every year. “The organ shortage persists because the federal government’s organ allocation system shows too little respect for the rights of organ donors,” says Ms. Brase. “It treats their body parts as government property. LifeSharers is fixing that, by acknowledging individual ownership of organs and by helping organ donors exercise their legal right to decide who gets their organs when they die.” In the vast majority of cases, the rules used to decide who receives transplantable human organs don’t take into account whether potential recipients have signed up as organ donors. As a result, about 70% of the organs transplanted in the United States go to people who haven’t agreed to donate their own organs. LifeSharers makes organ allocation more equitable, using laws that allow organ donors to direct who gets their organs. These laws are in effect in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. LifeSharers members agree to donate their organs when they die, and they direct that their organs be offered first to other LifeSharers members. Non-members can have their organs if no member who needs them is a suitable match. By giving fellow members preferred access to their organs, LifeSharers members reward organ donors and create an incentive for others to become donors. “LifeSharers helps organ donors get their fair share of organs,” according to David J. Undis, Executive Director of LifeSharers. “By giving our organs first to people who have agreed to donate their own organs, we also motivate more people to sign donor cards. More donors means more lives saved.” There has been a shortage of organs ever since the first transplant operations, and the shortage is getting worse every year. According to statistics compiled by the United Network for Organ Sharing, over 86,000 Americans are now on a waiting list for an organ transplant, and another name gets added to the list about every 14 minutes. More than half the people on the waiting list will die before they receive an organ. Somebody on the waiting list dies about every 90 minutes. “People are always more willing to give when they have a connection with the recipient of their donation,” says Ms. Brase. “LifeSharers leverages this charitable aspect of human nature to increase the number of organ donors, and I’m excited about the opportunity to help in this very worthwhile cause.” “By lending us her experience as a health care practitioner and her expertise in health care policy, Ms. Brase will help LifeSharers more rapidly reduce the shortage of organs, and save lives,” says Mr. Undis. LifeSharers membership is free and open to all at http://www.lifesharers.org. ABOUT TWILA BRASE Twila Brase is a registered nurse and a certified public health nurse. She is President of the Citizens’ Council on Health Care, a non-profit 501(c)(3) independent national free-market health care policy organization based in St. Paul, Minnesota. Ms. Brase speaks around the country and is a health care policy resource for local and national news media. In April 2004, Ms. Brase appeared on NBC Nightly News. In the past four months, her quotes have appeared in publications including American Medical News, The Associated Press, The Business Journal (Minneapolis/St. Paul), Health Care News, Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, and the Star Tribune. In May 2004, her commentaries on proposed Minnesota legislation were published in the St. Paul Pioneer Press and the Star Tribune. The Citizens’ Council on Health Care web site is at http://www.cchconline.org. About LifeSharers LifeSharers is a 501(c)(3) non-profit network of organ donors. Membership in LifeSharers is free and open to all. LifeSharers does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, physical handicap, health status, marital status, or economic status. Since its launch on May 22, 2002, LifeSharers has attracted 2,547 members, including members in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The LifeSharers web site is at http://www.lifesharers.org. Contact:
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