This peculiar story about two sisters who received harsh prison sentences who are now being granted clemency so that one sister can donate 1 of her kidneys to her other sister to save her life is certainly a bit of a sordid tale but, in the end, hopefully a live donor donation will save another person's life.
From the article: "Dr. Michael Shapiro, chief of organ transplants at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey and the chair of the ethics committee at the United Network for Organ Sharing, said the organ transplant should not be a condition of release.
"The simple answer to that is you can't pay someone for a kidney," Shapiro said. "If the governor is trading someone 20 years for a kidney, that might potentially violate the valuable consideration clause" in federal regulations."
For the life of me, I'm a bit flabbergasted about how he is so caught up worrying about a statutory construct of valuable consideration (see my earlier post here where I discuss this) instead of focusing on the pertinent outcome - that being one sister empowering another sister to survive by donating to her one of her two kidneys.
To me, this is a feel good ending (or will be one, when the transplant takes place) to a sorry tale of crime, punishment, and perhaps too harsh sentences for a couple of wayward sisters.
Kudos to Governor Barbour for taking some heat and granting the clemencies. Thank you to my brother for bringing this story to my attention.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Extrernality of Market Failure in Organ Transplantation: Black Market for Organs
This article in The Financial Times and the following quote discuss various people who are on trial for organ trafficking.
"In a separate case, seven Kosovan surgeons are on trial before EU judges for illegal kidney transplants and murder at the medicus clinic in Pristina, Kosovo’s capital, in recent years. Two co-accused – one Turkish, the other Israeli – are wanted by Interpol."
I will not discuss the morality of these surgeons' actions at this time, although suffice it to say that a strong argument can be offered in favor and against these surgeons actions.
The (major and not discussed) problem, as I see it, is that many governments around the world have created acute shortages of organs available for transplantation - and many of these shortages are the result of pieces of legislation outlawing the exchange of "valuable consideration" between organ donee (the person in need of the organ) and the donor (for example, a person donating 1 of their 2 kidneys.) While, legislation of this type was perhaps well intentioned, it was pragmatically misguided and created the deleterious outcome of more people dying before they can receive a transplant organ than is necessary.
"In a separate case, seven Kosovan surgeons are on trial before EU judges for illegal kidney transplants and murder at the medicus clinic in Pristina, Kosovo’s capital, in recent years. Two co-accused – one Turkish, the other Israeli – are wanted by Interpol."
I will not discuss the morality of these surgeons' actions at this time, although suffice it to say that a strong argument can be offered in favor and against these surgeons actions.
The (major and not discussed) problem, as I see it, is that many governments around the world have created acute shortages of organs available for transplantation - and many of these shortages are the result of pieces of legislation outlawing the exchange of "valuable consideration" between organ donee (the person in need of the organ) and the donor (for example, a person donating 1 of their 2 kidneys.) While, legislation of this type was perhaps well intentioned, it was pragmatically misguided and created the deleterious outcome of more people dying before they can receive a transplant organ than is necessary.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Live Donor [Kidney] Donation Giving People a New Lease on Life: Erma Bombeck’s son third in family to receive kidney transplant
Check out this article which discusses the acute need for kidney transplants for people suffering with Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD). Check out this link for more information on the disease. Live donor donation is the best method to find transplants for these people." Kidney transplants today have a very high success rate — 90 percent with a deceased donor, 95 percent with a living donor.
“Having a live donor is generally an advantage,” and allows for timing of the transplant so the patient doesn’t have to wait years and years, said Dr. Gabriel Danovitch, medical director of the kidney transplant program at UCLA. “And kidneys from living donors tend to last longer.”
The risk to the donor is extremely small, Danovitch said, and recovery is speedy especially now that most surgeries are done by laparoscope." This is from the above linked article form the Dayton Daily News.
“Having a live donor is generally an advantage,” and allows for timing of the transplant so the patient doesn’t have to wait years and years, said Dr. Gabriel Danovitch, medical director of the kidney transplant program at UCLA. “And kidneys from living donors tend to last longer.”
The risk to the donor is extremely small, Danovitch said, and recovery is speedy especially now that most surgeries are done by laparoscope." This is from the above linked article form the Dayton Daily News.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
DHHS sponsoring Innovative Grants to Increase Supply of Organs for Transplantation
The following is the title of the program title which is linked to here: The SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTIONS TO INCREASE ORGAN AND TISSUE DONATION.
This is a much needed program. I have one major problem with it, though. They will allow money to go from methods to increase cadaver AKA deceased donor organ donation or for educating people on the transplant list about the option of live donor donation (like from a family member.) But no money can be used directly to increase actual live donor donations - only for education about it! Live donor donations are probably the main source of untapped organs available and government grant application rules won't allow researchers and innovators to work with the most promising mechanism to increase the supply of organs because of the potential risk to the live donor.
I think we need private donors or institutions to step in to fund programs that have the best probabilities of having the widest impacts and thereby save the most lives.
I don't claim to be a history buff, but I think polio epidemics in the developed world were all but eradicated by substantial private donations to the March of Dimes. It might be time for organ shortages to be addressed in a similar manner!
This is a much needed program. I have one major problem with it, though. They will allow money to go from methods to increase cadaver AKA deceased donor organ donation or for educating people on the transplant list about the option of live donor donation (like from a family member.) But no money can be used directly to increase actual live donor donations - only for education about it! Live donor donations are probably the main source of untapped organs available and government grant application rules won't allow researchers and innovators to work with the most promising mechanism to increase the supply of organs because of the potential risk to the live donor.
I think we need private donors or institutions to step in to fund programs that have the best probabilities of having the widest impacts and thereby save the most lives.
I don't claim to be a history buff, but I think polio epidemics in the developed world were all but eradicated by substantial private donations to the March of Dimes. It might be time for organ shortages to be addressed in a similar manner!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Pilot Program to Harvest Kidneys from People who Die Outside of Hospitals in Manhattan
This article details a new pilot program to increase the supply of kidneys available for transplantation. It details how kidneys can be harvested up to 50 minutes after the heart stops beating. Kudos to the U. S. Department of Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for providing a 1.5 millions dollar grant for this pilot program. Lets see what happens...innovative...hopefully, it will also be successful.
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