How is the body of the deceased donor restituted to the family?
Organ retrieval is a surgical procedure performed in the operating room, with all the necessary precautions that accompany any surgical operation. The incisions are sutured back carefully and recovered with dressings. The removed corneas are similar to lenses, the eyes remain intact. Following surgery, the body is dressed up and given back to the family, who can plan the burial ceremony according to the donor’s wishes.
Is there a cost to me or to my family?
NO, there are no costs involved. The donor’s family does not incur any charges. Organ and tissue donation is completely free. The Ministry of Health and NOD-Lb cover all the expenses. But for transplantation, you have to contact your third party payer to cover your surgery. (MOH, Social Security, Army…)
Can the donor family get in touch with the persons that have been transplanted?
No! It is forbidden by law. It is a worldwide rule, to avoid future psychological and social problems. Organ donation is anonymous and unconditioned. This means that the donor's family cannot be informed of the name of the recipients. The same applies to the recipients who will not be informed of the name of their donor. This anonymity helps both the donor’s family to go through their grief process, and the recipients who need to depersonalize their graft, and accept it.
Can organs be stored in a bank?
Organs cannot be stored, only tissues can. Organs should be transplanted within a short time.
The organs cannot be stored in an organ bank because the time allowed between retrieval and transplantation is very short.
We also do not have, for the time being a well-established tissue bank fulfilling the international criteria.
Tissue donation is limited to corneas only.
Tissues can be stored in a bank for five years; the cornes on the other hand have to be transplanted within 20 days.
How does NOD-LB know that a potential donor is dead?
By law, every hospital should have an organ procurement committee responsible to apply the Lebanese deceased alert system and follow up every potential donor with NOD-LB. These committees are responsible to declare all deaths to NOD-LB.