Who pays for failed organ procurement and what is the cost of altruism?

Our objective was to define medical complications and financial charges generated during the care of potential solid organ donors who fail to donate after consent has been obtained. A retrospective review of financial and medical records of potential organ donors was done at an urban level 1 trauma center. Total hospital stay (T1+T2) for the group was broken down into the interval between admission and diagnosis of lethality (T1) and between diagnosis of lethality and death (T2). Medical complications occurring during the hospital stay and charges generated during each time interval were abstracted. After consent was obtained, 19 of 53 (36%) potential donors failed to donate: 9 of 19 (47%) expired prior to legal determination of brain death; 10 patients failed to progress to brain death and were made DNR. Of these, 9 died within 24 hr, 1 survived 16 days; 6 of the 10 patients did not meet brain death criteria, and 4 were rejected by the OPO for reasons of infectious risks. There were 3.1+/-1.3 medical complications per patient. T1 was less than 4 hr in 16/19 (84%) potential donors and constituted a small percentage of the mean total hospital stay (37+/-10 hr). Charges generated during T1+T2 (33,997+/-25,843) and specifically during T2 (17,385+/-9453) were considerable. These charges were passed on to patients' families or third party payers though care was directed solely at organ procurement after diagnosis of lethality. We conclude that multiple medical complications are encountered in the care of potential organ donors; total hospital stays are short but expensive; more than 50% of charges generated during the total hospital stay arise from care provided after determination of lethality; and the goodwill of families to consent to organ donations of their loved ones appears to carry potential for significant financial burden.