Your Beat Can Go On: Pacemakers After Death
Let’s say that you or a loved one has a cardiac pacemaker or other implantable cardiac device (ICD). Have you ever wondered what happens to these devices after you pass away? Interestingly, these devices don’t lose their utility when you or a loved one passes away. In fact, they can continue to save the lives of others.
According to the American Heart Association, millions of people in low-income countries suffer or die each year because they can’t afford pacemakers. These devices stimulate the heart muscle to maintain a regular heartbeat. Researchers argue that many lives could be saved if access were available to the tens of thousands of pacemakers and defibrillators removed annually from Americans who have died or received an upgraded device.
In underserved regions—especially in Africa, Asia, and Latin America—people are forced to live with dangerously low heart rates, sometimes as low as 30 beats per minute (compared to the normal 60–100 beats per minute), until they eventually die due to a lack of access to pacemakers. These devices can cost an average of $5,000, a price that many individuals in these areas simply cannot afford.
Since 2010, physicians at the University of Michigan Medical School have been researching the viability and safety of using refurbished pacemakers. Their studies, with results published at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions in 2024, the National Institutes of Health Journal, and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, indicate that the effectiveness and infection rates of refurbished pacemakers are similar to those of new ones. While the FDA has not yet approved the use of “used pacemakers” in the United States—pending longer trial results—it does endorse donating these devices to countries in need.
Georgia has already taken steps to support the use of refurbished pacemakers. Georgia Code §31-1-6 allows the implantation of used pacemakers into individuals who need them, as long as the procedure is “medically acceptable.” Furthermore, Georgia law permits you to grant your Executor the authority to sell or donate your pacemaker (Georgia Code §53-4-73). You can also empower your healthcare surrogate or agent, under an Advanced Health Care Directive, to donate your pacemaker, along with your organs, for transplantation and/or scientific purposes.
The University of Michigan’s My Heart Your Heart (MHYH) program works with funeral homes and hospitals to collect pacemakers, which are then sterilized, tested, and shipped to countries in need. In partnership with World Medical Relief and Arrhythmia Alliance Pace4Life the program has already implanted over 1,000 devices in 2023 and 2024.
What a meaningful way to leave a helpful legacy to someone who cannot afford an ICD. Indeed, you too can be part of this life-saving effort! MHYH offers a specific donor information sheet that you can fill out and keep with your important estate planning documents. For more details on how you can donate your pacemaker, visit University of Michigan’s Donate Pacemaker page.
Finally, to ensure that your wishes regarding health care, end-of-life planning, and estate planning are properly carried out, consider consulting a qualified estate planning attorney at Chandler Law, LLC. Our Life & Legacy Planning attorneys would be happy to help you leave a lasting legacy for someone in need.
