About

WELCOME TO THE PRESUMED CONSENT FOUNDATION

We sincerely hope you will find the information and support you’re looking for here, no matter what the source of your interest in Organ Transplantation is. And we hope you will join us in whatever way you can.

OUR MISSION

The mission of the Presumed Consent Foundation is to make lifesaving or life enhancing Organ Transplantation available to all who need it.

To this end we will work to educate the public about the shortcomings of the current Organ Donation system in the U.S.; be an advocate for changing the system to Presumed Consent with the right to opt-out; and carry out ongoing programs of Donor Awareness education.

HISTORY

The Founder of The Presumed Consent Fountdation, Inc., Terence C. McCarthy, died on August 4th, 2008 under hospice care at Albany, NY. of complications arising from Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency and transplantation. At his previous request, all usable organs and tissue were donated through the New York Center for Donation and Transplant.

Terence had received his double-lung transplant on August 20, 1998 at Buffalo General Hospital, Buffalo, New York due to end-stage lung disease caused by Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency. Having experienced the present system, he became convinced that the only way to solve the growing organ shortage in this country is by introducing Presumed Consent, with an opt-out option, as the law of the land in America and founded the Presumed Consent Foundation.

Based on his wishes, The Presumed Consent Foundation, Inc will continue to act upon Terence’s vision of change to US Organ Procurement and Transplantation Policy to an “opt-out” policy of Presumed Consent.

Within the previously established plan of succession, David W. Courtney, heads up operations.

Please send e-mail inquiries to: dcourtney@presumedconsent.org

and U.S. Mail inquiries to: The Presumed Consent Foundation, Inc, P.O. Box 58, Plainview, TX 79073

The Presumed Consent Foundation, Inc. is a Non-Profit Membership Organization and is tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the IRS Code. We were incorporated January 18, 2001 in Westerlo, New York. The Public Policy and Education program is directed from the Plainview, Texas office. Feel free to contact us at (806) 291-0295.

It is our Mission to facilitate change to an “opt-out” Presumed Consent Policy within the US Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). We intend to accomplish this through educating the public about presumed consent policy and organ donation, as well as advocating this change with our elected representatives in the US Congress, appointed officials within the US Department of Health and Human Services, and its “contracted” operator of the US Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, the United Network for Organ Sharing(UNOS).

A survey of West Texas, conducted by Dr. Leon Gervitz of Texas Tech University, indicates 67.4% of the people that are very likely to donate their organs after their death are in favor of a policy of presumed consent. Of the people who support presumed consent, 94.5% feel this policy would effectively increase the number of available organs for transplantation.

Our Mission

The mission of the Presumed Consent Foundation is to make life-saving and life-enhancing organ transplantation available to those in need. Along with legislators, healthcare professionals, and citizens, we will work to create a highly effective system that eliminates the organ donation crisis we are currently experiencing in the United States.

We will strive to educate the public about the facts, misconceptions, and myths pertaining to our current system of organ donation, advocate for changing this system to Presumed Consent with the right to opt-out, and offer ongoing programs of donor awareness education.