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New Yorkers Lag As Potential Organ Donors

The name ?LAP-BAND? comes from the surgical technique used, laparoscopic, and the name of the implanted medical device, gastric band.
The name ?LAP-BAND? comes from the surgical technique used, laparoscopic, and the name of the implanted medical device, gastric band.

Fewer New Yorkers have signed up as organ donors than most Americans, prompting the state to seek help boosting enrollment and shortening its list of patients who die waiting.

A study from Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield shows 22 percent of New York adults in the donor registry, compared with 48 percent nationally.

The study also shows 539 New Yorkers died awaiting a transplant last year while others became too sick and ineligible.

Currently 8,667 people are on New York's list for a kidney and 1,352 for a liver, some waiting more than five years.

The Health Department is drafting a bid request for outside help expanding registration.

So far, 3.4 million adults statewide have indicated their intent or given legal consent to donate their organs after they die.

© 2014 AP

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.