TRENTON, N.J. - If you ask Diane Bottino, it wasn't the hepatitis C that killed her husband last year, it was the needless waiting.
"What ultimately caused my husband to die was the shortage of organ donations," she said.
Joseph Bottino, 42, died after waiting 15 months for a liver transplant. Now his wife hopes a measure to require residents to make a decision about organ donation stops another sick person from dying the same way her husband did.
On Thursday, a New Jersey Senate committee voted to require people applying for driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards, which are available to citizens who don't drive, to state whether they want to be an organ donor. The requirement would also apply to people renewing driver's licenses.
The measure would also require high schools to teach about organ donation.
Howard M. Nathan, president and CEO of the Gift of Life Donor Program, said New Jersey would be the first state to impose such requirements.
"Our point is to encourage folks to have these conversations with their loved ones before they get to a hospital," said Senate President Codey, the bill sponsor. "It's designed to move the conversation from the emergency room to the living room." Read the full article.
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