Rising Drug Overdose Deaths up Organ Transplants

Even though the opioid epidemic shows no signs of improvement, there is also a positive side
of it. The drug crisis has offered a ray of hope to those in need of organ transplants. Ironic it
may sound, but an increase in the number of overdose deaths has led to a rise in overdose
death donors (ODDs) across the United States. A recent study has found that the number of
ODDs from jumped from a mere 1.1 percent in 2000 to 13.4 percent in 2017.
The findings were published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine in April 2018. The
authors concluded that the rise in ODD could help patients in dire need of a transplantation,
but unfortunately there’s a tragic underutilization of life-saving transplants. They also found
that many organs were discarded as some of those who died from an overdose were
identified as infectious risk donors carrying high prevalence of hepatitis C.
ODDs and risk of infections
Lead author
Christine Durand,
assistant
professor of
oncology and
medicine at the
Johns Hopkins
University, shared
that the use of
organs from ODD
is non-regulated,
but there are
regulations in
place for donors
who have high risk
of transmitting
certain infections.
Even though doctors try to do their best in gifting a life to someone waiting, there is a stigma
attached to “increased infectious risk” donors. In their study, Durand and colleagues found
that 56 percent of the ODDs were classified under the high-risk category. These donors had
to undergo tests for hepatitis and HIV, and sign consent for the transplant recipient.
The authors took data from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients, which had data
pertaining to the donors, wait-listing candidates and transplant recipients from January 2000
to September 2017. As many as 7,313 ODDs were identified from whom no less than one

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organ was recovered. There were at least 19,897 transplants from these donors and the ODDs
rose by 17 percent every year during the given period.
The researchers also identified two other categories of donors – those who died due to
traumatic death experiences and those who died due to medical complications. While the
number of donors in the first category increased by 1.6 percent per year, the number of
medical death donors rose by 2.3 percent per year.
Underutilization of resources
The research team made an observation that the number of ODDs rose from 66 in 2000 (1.1
percent of the national pool) to 915 from January to September in 2017 (13.4 percent of the
national pool). A 24-fold upsurge in the number of transplants – from 149 in 2000 to 3,533 in
2016 – was discovered. Even though the research team got good results in terms of organ
function and patient survival after receiving transplants, many organs were discarded,
especially from donors who died due to trauma. Kidneys were abandoned at a rate of 14
percent and the reason was primarily that of infections.
Looking at a large number of recovered discarded organs, Durand stated that the benefits and
risks must be weighed in transplant surgeries given that now the treatment is available for
hepatitis C. Dr. Camille Nelson Kotton, clinical director of transplant and
immunocompromised host infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital, penned an
editorial for this study and stated that enhanced efforts were necessitated for providing
organs to the patients who may derive long-term benefits from it.
The road ahead
Despite some limitations, like the authors were unable to determine how many ODDs were
due to opioid overdose, the study is important in establishing a link between the implications
of opioid overdose and organ transplantations. The authors also established that the
transplant results were comparable to other cases in which patients died from reasons other
than opioids. The authors stressed that it is important to bridge the gap between the number
of organs procured and underutilization of resources.
Even if drug overdose deaths are helping in better availability of organs for those in need, it
is important to save lives claimed by such avoidable reasons. Treatment is an important way
to minimize drug overdose casualties. If you or a loved one is struggling with substance abuse
and is in need of help, contact the Colorado Substance Abuse Advisors for information on
some state-of-the-art substance abuse treatment centers in Colorado. Call at our 24/7
helpline 866-300-5857 to get connected to the best addiction help center near you.

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