An increasing number of organ donations in New Hampshire are coming from people who have died of overdoses.
New England Donor Services says in 2016, 92 organ donors had died of a drug overdose. WMUR-TV reports the percentage of organ donors who were overdose victims rose from 4 percent to 27 percent in a five-year timespan.
About a third of donors are overdose victims in New Hampshire.
New England Donor Services CEO Alexandra Glazier says the risk of dying waiting for an organ is "significantly higher" than the risk of disease transmission from a donor who could have been a drug user.
Glazier says no medical professional sees the opioid epidemic as positive, but the mission of her organization is to save lives through finding organ donations.
