PORTLAND (AP) – The director of the Maine Transplant Program fears news reports about a brain-collection program that prompted state and federal investigations will discourage organ donations that can restore health and save lives.

Dr. Jonathan Himmelfarb, director of the transplant program at Maine Medical Center, said potential donors and their families could be confused by reports about the suspended brain program and related lawsuits and regulatory efforts.

The ramifications could mean that someone is deprived of a potentially lifesaving gift, said Himmelfarb, who also serves as chairman of the Board of Trustees for the New England Organ Bank.

“Every time we lose a donor, someone dies,” he said.

The brain-harvesting program came to light after a 10-month investigation by the Maine Sunday Telegram and Portland Press Herald.

The newspaper reported that the state’s former funeral director was paid $150,000 by a Maryland research institute for brains he obtained from bodies that were taken to the state medical examiner’s office between 1999 and 2003.

Matthew Cyr has been accused by several Maine families of using misleading tactics to get people to donate brains of loved ones who died.

Sean Fitzpatrick of the New England Organ Bank said it is too early to see any change in the donation rates in Maine that could be related to the publicity. Neither Fitzpatrick nor Himmelfarb provided recent donation numbers.

“It’s tough to see if it goes up or down until you get a couple years out,” said Fitzpatrick.

The Maine Transplant Program performs between 60 and 70 kidney transplants and five to 10 pancreas transplants a year, Himmelfarb said. There are more than 100 patients waiting for donors, he said. Transplants of hearts, livers and other organs are performed outside of Maine.

Fitzpatrick agreed that the publicity could affect potential transplant donors. “The average person, when you say organ donation, they think of organ donation for transplant,” he said.

But the publicity has not been all bad. It led to a new policy for soliciting donations after deaths handled by the state medical examiner’s office. The policy is now being used as the basis to draft new state rules for all tissue and organ recovery agencies.

Dr. Dora Anne Mills, director of Maine’s Bureau of Health, said she understands Himmelfarb’s concerns. “Any time that organ and tissue donation is in the news in a negative way… people understandably will have concerns there could be spillover,” she said.

But, Mills said, it’s unclear whether the publicity will actually affect donation rates. “To me, the stories have been pretty clear that the issue has been limited to one research facility,” she said.

Himmelfarb said he hopes his fears about Maine donations prove unwarranted, as well.

Maine has the highest rate in New England for organ donation, Himmelfarb said.

“We don’t want to see that trust disappear,” he said.

AP-ES-03-02-05 1214EST

Copy the Story Link