Donor education fund permanent

By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

Gov. Linda Lingle yesterday signed a bill that would make permanent an organ donation education fund that relies on $1 voluntary contributions collected through motor vehicle registration.

Gov. Linda Lingle also signed a law that would allow certain diabetics to obtain commercial driver licenses. Advertiser library photo

The special fund, which Lingle said has raised more than $20,000 so far, would have expired June 30.

The program aims to expand educational efforts across all ethnic, religious and age groups and increase organ donations in Hawai'i.

More than 370 people in Hawai'i are waiting for organs, said Anita Swanson, executive director of the Organ Donor Center of Hawai'i.

Lingle and other advocates of the measure stressed the importance of informing family members of a wish to be an organ donor. She said that even if being an organ donor is specified on a driver's license, the decision of whether to donate organs and tissue ultimately is up to the family.

The governor also signed a law that would allow certain diabetics who use insulin to obtain commercial driver licenses.

She said previous law, which prohibited insulin users from obtaining commercial licenses, forced some drivers with diabetes to forego medical treatment to keep their jobs.

The new law, Act 18, authorizes the state Department of Transportation to grant waivers to allow insulin users who have undergone a screening process to obtain commercial driver licenses for intrastate purposes.

Lingle said advances in medicine enable diabetics to manage the disease and that the law strikes a balance between the need for road safety and the rights of diabetics.

Sen. Cal Kawamoto, D-18th (Waipahu, Crestview, Pearl City), said Hawai'i is the first in the nation to authorize such waivers.

Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.