Why You Should Donate Your Medical Data When You Die

February 16, 2017

(Scientific American) – But organs aren’t the only thing that you can donate once you’re dead. What about donating your medical data? Data might not seem important in the way that organs are. People need organs just to stay alive, or to avoid being on dialysis for several hours a day. But medical data are also very valuable—even if they are not going to save someone’s life immediately. Why? Because medical research cannot take place without medical data, and the sad fact is that most people’s medical data are inaccessible for research once they are dead.