Posted on 12/07/2005 7:49:57 PM PST by xzins
Donor Network Right to Refuse Organs from Homosexual, Says Christian Doc
By Mary Rettig December 7, 2005
(AgapePress) - Friends and family of a Tucson man are crying discrimination after the homosexual man's organs were rejected by the Donor Network of Arizona. However, a Kansas surgeon who works in organ transplantation says the decision was a good one.
Albert Soto, 51, intended to donate his eyes and other tissues after death, but a spokesman from the Network says the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta has established guidelines allowing centers to reject donations from men who have had sex with men in the last five years. Dr. David Pauls, a spokesman for the Christian Medical Association, says those guidelines are needed regardless -- even if the donor is HIV negative, as in Soto's case.
"Number one, HIV in early stages cannot be detected on testing; it takes a little bit [of time] there," Pauls explains. "But even if he's HIV negative, there's other infectious diseases that are fairly common within the homosexual population -- particularly hepatitis, which can be a very deadly complication in somebody who receives a transplant, and that sometimes also can be missed by screening."
Pauls says the organ donation and transplant business is heavily reliant on trust. "Trust is probably one of the most valuable commodities we have," he says. "If I ... as a physician am going to be doing a transplant, I'm want to do everything I can to make sure that the organs or the tissue that I'm transplanting is safe and is not going to cause other problems or other diseases in that patient."
Transplant patients, he says, obviously should have the same concerns. In Soto's case, Pauls says the man's risky sexual behavior makes using his organs a high risk for the recipient, who otherwise might be put in a position of being exposed to deadly infections. Meanwhile, Soto's family is petitioning officials in Tucson to change the CDC guidelines. The man died after suffering a stroke on Thanksgiving Day.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mary Rettig, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
Just why exactly are people based on personal political opinion allowed to petition to change medical safety standards? Isn't that on the list of the most ignorant things you've ever heard?
What difference does it make if the organ was from a homosexual? An liver's a liver.
Same as blodd, why take the chance. It is common sense. AIDS is primarily a behavior-preventable disease and acknowledging high-risk behavior should disqualify you.
But, but, what about Soto's self esteem! /sarcasm
These people ARE mentally ill....to even think of doing that to an organ recipient.
Uh...you might want to educate yourself about diseases and organs and other related medical issues. You're young....you'll figure it out.
yea, parts is parts
Sorry. I'm probably going to be flamed for that.
I didn't realize their was a higher AIDS risk from gay donors.
Good thing I deleted instead of hitting post then.
Freep on...:)
Good luck!
Got to agree! When you are dying of thirst, what's the difference between pepsi and coke?
It can take up to 6 months for an HIV test to become positive after an individual is infected with the AIDS virus. Therefore there is up to a six month window that those with AIDS could be HIV negative but still infectious, particularly through organ transplant.
I would not think that you should take an organ transplant from someone that would be disqualified giving blood.
Most diseases are undetectable in the early stages, as are most types of cancers. So using Dr. David Pauls reasoning, no one should be able to donate their organs because they MIGHT be infected, but if said patients don't receive organ replacements, they are going to die sooner anyway.
By denying patients from receiving organs from those willing to donate them after death, Dr. David Pauls has blood on his hands.
Your first reaction is understandable, given the need for organ donors.
Or, we could just take better care of our bodies and then less of us would need organ transplants anyway.
By implanting a potentially deadly disease into someone who could (possibly?) have survived to take a clean organ, the doctor exposes himself to millions in liability suits and the end of his career.
"Same as blood, why take the risk?"
Hell, I'd risk it.
Yeah, that was kind of my point, because I'm always hearing about how short the supply for new organs is, and how people who need transplants have to wait for years and years while they're dying.
BTW, did you check out the singles thread the other night? I remember you asked me about it.
That may be true for some, but there are people born with genetic diseases/congenital malforamtion that have nothing to do with the need for a transplant.
And even diabetics that take good care of themselves may need kidney transplants eventually. I feel for people on the transpant waiting list, it is a long agonizing wait and some die while they are on the list.
I did check out the singles thread, and I'll back!
You also run the risk of developing a severe attraction to Broadway musicals.
The pertinent medical history should be made known to the potential recipient, and the decision to accept or reject the organ to be made by that person and his/her physicians.
Have you ever given blood? (Gave my 42nd pint today.) They take about 10 minutes questioning you about your sex life. They take a dim view of male-male sex. The Red Cross is VERY careful. I would hope folks do the same with organs.
Who should not give blood:
* Anyone who has ever used intravenous drugs (illegal IV drugs)
* Men who have had sexual contact with other men since 1977
* Anyone who has ever received clotting factor concentrates
* Anyone with a positive test for HIV (AIDS virus)
* Men and women who have engaged in sex for money or drugs since 1977
* Anyone who has had hepatitis since his or her eleventh birthday
* Anyone who has had babesiosis or Chagas disease
* Anyone who has taken Tegison for psoriasis
* Anyone who has risk factors for Crueutzfeldt-Jakob
disease (CJD) or who has an immediate family member with CJD * Anyone who has risk factors for vCJD
* Anyone who spent three months or more in the United Kingdom from 1980 through 1996
* Anyone who has spent five years in Europe from 1980 to the present.
Okay, okay, I got it, I got it.
Good choice.
My Mom died of hepatitis she got from tainted blood she received during a transfusion.
LOL, at least and every time. That along with the interrogation on my time spent overseas is one big pain in the arse.
Anyone know how to get red wine off a computer screen?? LOLOL!!!
Sorry. Not piling on. My research took a while and while I was doing it and formatting my response, about 20 people posted! If you blink twice around here, you end up at the end of the line.
I'm sorry for your loss.
Yep; I'm living proof. Just got on the list for a kidney transplant in August due to my Polycystic Kidney Disease. My kidney failure has absolutely nothing to do with poor health habits; it's strictly genetic.
It's not the difference between pepsi and coke, it's the difference between clean water and swamp water filled with e coli and giardia.
My 4 years in Germany disqualified me from giving blood for a while. Maybe it still does.
Why shouldn't we allow willing recipients to take organs from infected donors?
Because the diseases can be spread, and they are deadly.
In other words, disease is a community issue....not just a personal issue.
The woman who interviewed me today insisted on staring into my eyes while she asked the sex questions. Not the others, though. She wasn't my "type". (Blood donor joke.)
good luck to you - I hope you get your kidney soon!
Me too. Thanks!
Thanks for you kindness.
WEll, if other people will take care of their bodies better, then you will not have to wait as long for a new kidney because there will be less demand.
See? I'm on your side.
That's very true. Happens to me all the time...I want to post, and before I know it, 20 have gone before me.
Weak analogy. Here's a better one.
When you are dying of thirst, what's the difference between Pepsi and Drano.
By the way. The Coca-Cola company has a lot of IP lawyers, and you will probably be hearing from one of them for the lower case on Coke (r). Pepsico will probably leave you alone.
Medical reasons. End of subject.
Thanks for sharing. Your post is extremely relevant....maybe the most important here.
I am so sorry......a good friend of mine got hep C from heart surgery, but so far, she's doing OKAY....in remission, at 73 years of age.
No they aren't.
Teen's transplant done mistakenly - NC hospital gives her organs that don't match her blood type
Medical reasons. Statistical probabilities. No discrimination here. The kind of sex you have matters to the transmission of viruses. These are sound medical guidelines.
I have two friends who got Hep C from tainted transfusions during sugery. They will likely die from cirrhosis or liver cancer.
Okay, I get it. No links necessary.
No sense in helping deadly, communicable disease get a foothold, is there?
NOt only that, but the viral diseases (HIV/Hep C etc) are all the more devastating in transplant patients because the patients are on drugs that suppress the immune system after the transplant.
THis allows the infections to be worse and progress faster.
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