Steve Jobs teams with Schwarzenegger to push organ donor registry

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Apple chief executive Steve Jobs broke his silence Friday on the subject of his recent liver transplant as part of a tag-team effort with California governer Arnold Schwarzenegger to push for reform in the state's organ donor process.



The bill, SB 1395 by state Sen. Elaine Alquist, D-San Jose, makes it mandatory for Californian residents to accept or decline the option of becoming an organ donor when they renew their drivers licenses, according to San Jose Mercury News. Under the current system, residents are free to affix a pink sticker to their license if they remember to do so.



"The legislation would also create the nation's first "living donor registry," allowing altruistic people to sign up to offer one of their kidneys to a sick person," according to the report, which cites Stanford doctors as saying that kidney donation is relatively safe and does not shorten life span.



Jobs, who underwent successful liver transplant surgery at Methodist University Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee one year ago next week, called the current system an "an obscure procedure" with "no one asking the simple question: Will you donate your organs?"



"There were not enough livers in California to go around. I was advised by my Stanford doctors to enroll on a list at a Memphis hospital, because it was more favorable to get a liver there," he said. "I was fortunate," he added, referring to his financial status that enabled him to fly cross country in the four-hour window needed to transplant a healthy organ. "Last year, 400 other Californians died waiting. I could have died."



Jobs, who six years ago also beat a very rare form of pancreatic cancer called an islet cell neuroendocrine tumor, was reportedly proactive in reaching out to Governer Schwarzenegger through his wife to get the ball rolling on reforming the process in his home state.



"Steve Jobs told my wife about his transplant and she talked to me," Schwarzenegger said. "Then we had great phone conversations back and forth. ... He knew that others don't have a plane waiting for them to get to a transplant."







In speaking to other transplant survivors who attended a news conference Friday regarding the matter, Jobs conceded that he stared death in the face for the second time in just a few years but has since returned to good health.



"I'm feeling fine," he said. "I almost died. It's been a pretty good last few months."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 134
    I hope Jobs donates abundant time on his Gulfstream to fly people out to their transplants in situations like that, for starters. (Of course, he'll have to compensate Apple for the time used).



    Indeed, even better, he should buy and run a couple of planes like that just for people in that type of situation.

    ------

    Quote from article:

    Schwarzenegger said. "Then we had great phone conversations back and forth. ... He knew that others don't have a plane waiting for them to get to a transplant."
  • Reply 2 of 134
    woohoo!woohoo! Posts: 291member
    To your continued good health Steve.



    Consider restoring the Jackling House, see it's potential as a museum.



    http://www.casadelherrero.com/index.html
  • Reply 3 of 134
    chris_cachris_ca Posts: 2,543member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Under the current system, residents are free to affix a pink sticker to their license if they remember to do so.



    What?

    But it's mandatory if they forget to do so?
  • Reply 4 of 134
    bspearsbspears Posts: 147member
    This is awesome. His presence will help push this bill thru and it will save many many lives.
  • Reply 5 of 134
    chris_cachris_ca Posts: 2,543member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Woohoo! View Post


    Consider restoring the Jackling House, see it's potential as a museum.



    Why?

    Besides, I imagine there have been plenty of ideas thrown at him for the house.



    And what does this have to do with transplants?
  • Reply 6 of 134
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Chris_CA View Post


    What?

    But it's mandatory if they forget to do so?



    It's not mandatory. The pink sticker just means you volunteer to donate. Not having a sticker means you don't volunteer. At least thats what I understand it to mean.



    I find it odd that they don't already require the question be asked at the DMV. For as long as I can remember, its been required for the DMV here in West Virginia to ask if you want to be a donor. Just seems like common sense to me. They are not forcing you to do anything except choose one way or the other. I just assumed it was done this way in every state.
  • Reply 7 of 134
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    This is a good thing but I'd ideally finding ways to get longer windows for organs is needed.



    PS: Anyone else couldn't help but think of the new movie Repo Men while reading this article?





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Chris_CA View Post


    Why?

    Besides, I imagine there have been plenty of ideas thrown at him for the house.



    And what does this have to do with transplants?



    He's just trolling. Best to ignore him.
  • Reply 8 of 134
    dr millmossdr millmoss Posts: 5,403member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    The bill, SB 1395 by state Sen. Elaine Alquist, D-San Jose, makes it mandatory for Californian residents to accept or decline the option of becoming an organ donor when they renew their drivers licenses, according to San Jose Mercury News. Under the current system, residents are free to affix a pink sticker to their license if they remember to do so.



    This doesn't seem entirely correct. Currently CA driver's license renewal forms have a box to check, and if you check "yes" your new license comes to you with a pink dot on the front that says "donor" on it. No stickers, no remembering. This is what the bill actually does:



    Quote:

    This bill would, instead, require the department to include on an application for a new or renewal driver's license specified language asking the applicant if he or she wants to enroll with the Donate Life California Organ and Tissue Donor Registry and giving the applicant information about the registry, including disenrollment information. The bill would also require the department to transmit to the Donate Life California Organ and Tissue Donor Registry and the appropriate fiscal committees of the Legislature an annual report, and to make available quarterly updates, detailing funds collected through voluntary contributions from applicants as well as a summary of specified nonidentifiable applicant information.



    The difference is, if you say yes you will be entered into the registry.
  • Reply 9 of 134
    bugsnwbugsnw Posts: 717member
    Way to go, Steve & Arnold. Two of our great spirits of our lifetimes. I am an organ donor myself but was surprised at the high number of Californians that have opted in. We are truly the most generous nation on earth.



    This mere push will create even more supply. Donating a kidney should be without fee to the donor as well, my .02 - which kinda ties into the question asked at the end.
  • Reply 11 of 134
    kpluckkpluck Posts: 500member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bspears View Post


    This is awesome. His presence will help push this bill thru and it will save many many lives.



    Yep, like prisoners serving life sentences. I stopped being an organ donor years ago in protest because they give prisoners, even ones serving life sentences, organ transplants.



    Until California changes the law to allow potential donors to specify their organs not go to prisoners, I will not be a donor.



    -kpluck
  • Reply 12 of 134
    woohoo!woohoo! Posts: 291member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Chris_CA View Post


    And what does this have to do with transplants?





    It's about giving life from something one has no further use for and the joy and peace that comes from it.
  • Reply 13 of 134
    jdwjdw Posts: 1,324member
    I enjoyed the intro, "Steve Jobs of Apple COMPUTER." The word may have been dropped from the official company name 3 years, but it lives on in our minds.
  • Reply 14 of 134
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    I was asked when I renewed my license in Florida and did sign up as a donor. I think this is a great bill and every State should have the same simple question asked. It is a no brainer and I cannot understand why anyone should not agree to be a donor.
  • Reply 15 of 134
    mac'em xmac'em x Posts: 108member
    "Steve Jobs teams with Arnold Schwarzenegger to push organ donor registry"



    Boy, that sounds like a headline from The Onion until you realize that it makes perfect sense.
  • Reply 16 of 134
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    finding ways to get longer windows for organs is needed.



    Absolutely. I can't even imagine the whirlwind: knowing you're dying, then getting that phone call saying a lifesaving organ is available & you'll need major surgery within the next few hours. Yikes!!!



    Perhaps a little part of Apple's cash reserve could go into starting a medical technologies department (with emphasis on transplants).
  • Reply 17 of 134
    chris_cachris_ca Posts: 2,543member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by johnboi1978 View Post


    It's not mandatory. The pink sticker just means you volunteer to donate. Not having a sticker means you don't volunteer. At least thats what I understand it to mean.



    It was worded strangely and did not say why the would affix a pink sticker to their license. Just that they could, if they remembered to.

    How about, "If drivers did not register as a donor at the time they received their license, they can affix a pink sticker to their license to identify they now are donors".



    Under the current system they are also now free to eat at Burger King, go bowling or drop out of school if they remember to do it.
  • Reply 18 of 134
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sippincider View Post


    Perhaps a little part of Apple's cash reserve could go into starting a medical technologies department (with emphasis on transplants).



    And aneurysms.
  • Reply 19 of 134
    I'd like to this become a National, Worldwide Law, and not for ALL Organs...



    I am not thrilled to see digs at Steve Jobs on this thread in this context... I won't be surprised if some will suggest that he did it as a pr stunt for iPad Launch, or and to aid Obama's Health Care... I've heard similar accusations regarding Bill Gates Health Initiatives over the years...



    How can anyone read anyone's mind, heart, soul? There isn't and will never be app for that!



    I sometimes wonder about people who hate others, as if those people did something really bad to them directly, or to their families....



    Jobs, Gates, Presidents etc... - those examples come to mind...



    It sounds like the haters think that, if only their hated person dropped dead, all world's problems would be solved!!! Nuts, but that's what it looks like to me, when I see that kind of hate...



    I am a proud member of http://marrow.org It would be great to be someone's match...



    As to prisoners getting a transplant..., yes I agree that it would be sad to see a murderer get it, but, to kill this whole law, that Jobs and Arnold are proposing, for that reason alone would be even worse! Maybe the solution would be to leave that decision in the hands of the individual donors? That way, before they donate, they know exactly who their organ is donated too... At the same time, that could open the door for some sad choices...



    Also, we all heard of cases when, thanks to DNA, some convicted murderers were set free, cause they were proven not guilty... No, I am not looking to start a discussion on death penalty here, but I do see the connection to this thread though....



    BRAVO STEVE JOBS for getting involved... Obviously he was part of this idea before the passing of Jerry York! As of now, Friday, March 19, 2010 at 8:49 PM, EST, his obituary is on http://www.apple.com/ Home Page for the 2nd day!!! That speaks volumes of Apple!



    Who knows, maybe at Jerry York's funeral Steve and Google guys will work something out, and stop this war. I am on Apple's side in this. But I also like Google Voice... But back to the original topic...



    To me, Steve Jobs comes off as a humble, yet passionate man... I am not planning on changing that opinion based on books or sitcoms..., which are all 2nd hand info...



    Best of health to everyone and your loved ones... May none of us need anyone else's organs!
  • Reply 20 of 134
    Before everyone goes all ga-ga about how great this LAW is - think about it for a second.



    Who is the State to MANDATE that you even make a choice??



    How about adding a check-box which says "ask my wife"...?



    How about "none of your damned business"?





    What amazes me is that everyone seems to think that it's OK to force people to declare anything either way. My organs are mine, and I have the right to be ambivalent about whether or not I want to donate them to another. I may not want to donate them today, but may change my mind tomorrow - or I may want to leave it up to my family to decide. Who knows?



    The point being - the government has no right to compel me to state what I want done either way.





    Jobs is a great guy - I'm very glad he got his liver - but he (like so many others these days) sees no problem with government intruding in areas that are none of their business.





    Dave predicts: If this law passes, it gets overturned by the Supreme Court one day.





    BTW: I agree with the poster who said that Jobs should loan out his Jet for people who need transplants. His reaction is unfortunately like many rich liberals - they see a need for something, and rather than put their own fortune at risk, they decide to try and influence government to make the rest of us go along with it. Here's one area, Steve, where you should maybe be a bit more like Bill Gates. You aren't taking any of those $$ to heaven with you. Give some to sick folks who need it.





    One last observation, then I'll leave it be... Before anyone thinks this is a right-wing attack - I happen to think that we should allow folks who want to sell their organs (or part, thereof) to do so. I'm with John Stossel on this. If my kid needed an organ to keep them alive, I'd sell everything I own to give to someone who would donate it - wouldn't anyone? So why should the State ban such kinds of things from going on? Who benefits from the status quo? Who?



    No one. That's who.



    Dave
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