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LifeSharers offers one way to increase organ donations

The network effect is an interesting concept, experts say. But some are uneasy about it, and even those who like the idea doubt it's workable.

By Susan J. Landers, amednews staff. July 14, 2003.

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Washington -- David J. Undis, executive director of LifeSharers, had an idea he thought would increase the number of organ donors.

Many think his brainstorm is a good one, but most agree it won't work. It has triggered both controversy and curiosity.

Undis, who has no need of a donated organ for himself or for anyone he knows, was reading about the organ shortage when he decided an answer might lie in a computer concept called the "network effect."

"A good example of the network effect is Microsoft Windows," he explains. "The more people who use Windows, the more valuable it is to learn. People say the standard 'qwerty' keyboard is another example."

Undis came up with LifeSharers about a year ago. Here's how it works: When people join LifeSharers, which is free, they agree to donate their organs at death. These organs will be offered first to other LifeSharers members. If there are no suitable recipients among the group, the organs go to someone else.

LifeSharers is not the first to pursue a quasi-club membership approach to organ donation, Undis points out. But until the Internet came along there was no practical way to make the system work.

"About 80% of the organs transplanted in America go to people who haven't agreed to donate their own organs," said Undis. "That's just not fair. It's also one of the big reasons there is such a large shortage of organs. If you couldn't get a transplant unless you'd already agreed to donate your own organs, everybody would sign a donor card and we wouldn't have over 6,000 Americans dying every year waiting for transplants."