Tulsa Today Welcomes United Tissue Network (UTN) Vice President and General Counsel: Hal Wm. Ezzell

PHOENIX, March 26, 2019 (Newswire.com) - Hal Wm. Ezzell, United Tissue Network’s Vice President and General Counsel, made an appearance on Tulsa Today where he was able to educate the public on whole-body donation, and the great medical advancement people can contribute to by pledging their bodies to science.

“Our mission at United Tissue Network is to empower and facilitate those individuals who wish to contribute to the advancement of medical technology and the improvement of medical education and training through participation in the whole-body donation program,” Ezzell said.

The primary difference between organ donation and whole-body donation is that organ donation is about saving lives today, whereas whole-body donation is about saving lives in the future helping by improving the medical technology and treatments of the future.  

United Tissue Network maintains the broadest acceptance parameters to their donation program in the country, where virtually anyone would qualify as a donor. While there are some restrictions where donors must be over the age of 18, they encourage anyone and everyone to pledge. They also have an active donor registry where individuals can pre-consent themselves during their lifetime. They also offer at need consents at the time of passing through family members.

While there are many benefits of pledging to be a whole-body donor, there are two main motivators people have when considering donation. One is that the donor wants something positive to come out of their death, knowing they’ve contributed to the advancement of medical technology. Second is a financial aspect as United Tissue Network has the ability to cover most or all the costs of passing for the family providing emotional and financial relief.     

United Tissue Network is a non-profit 501c3, non-transplant anatomical donation organization accredited by The American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB). The AATB actively inspects and accredits non-transplant anatomical donation organizations using comprehensive standards and policies that resemble current accreditation procedures for transplant tissue banks.

They are also recognized as a Donor Program by the Oklahoma State Anatomical Board; this recognition ensures proper handling for the collection, preservation, storage, distribution, delivery, recovery for users, cremation and final disposition of all donors used for health science education in the state are conducted in an ethical manner.

Visit www.unitedtissue.org to learn more about whole-body donation.

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Source: United Tissue Network