What happens when you donate your body to science?

Re:What happens when you donate your body to science? by Bystander22 on Friday October 14, 2022 @06:40PM (#33209650)

Your link and the posted one about body farms reminds me of the ethical questions raised by an article published in 2007 that got significant coverage: a professor of Medical Ethics, Anesthesia, and Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School discussed openly the differences between brain death and heart death, and what that means for organ transplants (for example: some people administer anesthesia to the donating body just in case). It got traction outside the normal readership because... a lot of people didn't know.

[Are links to sci-hub ok here? 'Brain Death - Too Flawed to Endure, Too Ingrained to Abandon' by Robert D. Truog, Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Summer 2007, https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-720X.2007....]

In my area, you can indicate that you want to be an organ donor on your drivers license. It's a check box. But can you fully understand your decision at the DMV office, and can you fully contain your wishes within a check box?

Similarly with the posted links: informed consent is important, even if that means fewer volunteers.

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Re:What happens when you donate your body to science? by MichaelCollins on Saturday October 15, 2022 @10:53AM (#33215361)

I seriously considered taking myself off the donor list when I learned that it might subject me to vivisection. But ultimately I decided I wouldn't be willing to turn down being the recipient of an organ donation, so it's a risk I now accept. Anesthetizing donors should be made standard practice though.

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Re:What happens when you donate your body to science? by spookybones on Saturday October 15, 2022 @11:48AM (#33215819)

I also considered removing myself from the donor list after reading about live vivisection a while back. But, I looked up how to remove oneself as a donor and couldn’t find any information.

Also, I renewed my license recently and did not mark that I wanted to be a donor, and it stated that I was one on my new license nonetheless.

I am still undecided on the subject because I would like to donate organs to people in need when the time comes, so it doesn’t bother me too much.

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Re:What happens when you donate your body to science? by MichaelCollins on Saturday October 15, 2022 @12:06PM (#33215966)

It depends on the state of course, but in Washington you can visit a Drivers Licensing Office to update your donation status and get a new card (which is free, if you're only changing your donation status.)

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Re:What happens when you donate your body to science? by nomel on Saturday October 15, 2022 @05:08PM (#33218680)

> it might subject me to vivisection

I’m having trouble finding anything about this. Do you have any references. This is a bit terrifying!

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Re:What happens when you donate your body to science? by Bystander22 on Sunday October 16, 2022 @10:41AM (#33223938)

It's in this article: https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-720X.2007....

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