USA: A startling drop in organ donor registrations has rippled across Arizona, threatening lives and spotlighting liver transplantation as the human face of the crisis. In Gilbert, 35 year old Katie Sartin is alive because strangers donated organs: she received a lifesaving liver transplant as a child after a sudden illness at age six and required a second liver transplant 23 years later. Her story underscores how transplantation enables decades of education, travel and family life.
Donor Network data show more than 2,000 people removed themselves from Arizona’s donor registry in a single month, and the network reports more than 2,500 registry removals in July, its largest single month loss in history. Advocates link the exodus to investigative reporting that raised concerns about organ donation practices nationwide, including allegations that medical teams prematurely removed organs in other states. The network insists those problems are not occurring in Arizona.
Recipients and medical professionals counter that transplantation safeguards remain strong: only about 10 percent of deaths are even eligible for organ recovery, and clinicians say they exhaust every effort to save patients before any donation is considered. Still, transplant recipients like Sartin say misleading headlines can have immediate, lethal consequences by deterring sign ups and reducing the pool of available organs for liver and other transplants.
The Donor Network and recipients are urging Arizonans to rejoin the registry, warning that fewer registered donors means fewer transplants and more people dying while waiting. Signing up remains simple: indicate donor status on a driver’s license or complete the online registry, and advocates stress that registration can translate into a future transplant that restores lives and families.
Medical teams emphasize they do everything to save patients before any transplant, and donor advocates ask communities across Arizona to reconsider, rejoin registry and protect access to organs.
