In a personal conversation on the subject a friend pointed out that the chances for an implant are higher if the recipient is willing to broaden search for the sources of organs. When I inquired, I learned that a growing number of donors are victims of drug overdoses – otherwise healthy and young people that perish when they stop breathing for too long before an attempt to resuscitate and end up brain dead. Apparently, many other organs can stay intact for a much longer time. Looking at some statistics, approximately 11000 people are become donors annually – the number has been rising since 2012 – with that number having grown by approximately 3500 annually over this period. 40% of the additional donors are assumed to be drug overdose related. Extending my earlier contemplations – here we look through a different but unfortunate window into the trend of growing drug use, especially younger adults and the worst outcomes possible for these people. On the opposite side this trend creates lifelines for an equal or larger number of people that are fighting for their life or return to a normal life in expectation of a donated organ. Could one say a life was not wasted in such cases? Ultimately these people are also somebody’s son or daughter and may have a family they leave behind, a family that may have tried to help them to become clean or had to give up. Are these preventable events in their own right? It feels like on the right track these people could have had a positive impact on the community if they had found a path to normal life. The medical profession would still do everything to find cures and help the people receiving donated organs even if the number trended differently and extended the wait time.