Japanese baby recovering after six-organ transplant in Florida

one for your just damn ping list?

"I am Buddhist, but many thanks to the God of the United States," the baby's father, Yukiho Ohashi, said in Spanish. "This story was incredible - a miracle."

WOW

I wonder who's paying for this?

Carolyn

"wonder who's paying for this?"

My guess is a citizen child of the U.S. is ultimately paying by not being able to recieve the organs that the foreigner received.

Exactly my point. The housekeeping supervisor where I work had a stent put in a couple of years ago at St. Mary's in Jefferson City, MO. The bill came to $45,000 and she was paying monthly, but had no insurance. So the hospital plans to garnish her wages, which would mean she can't feed her kids and keep a roof over their heads. So she has been forced to declare bankruptcy.

But someone from another country can come here and get lifesaving surgery done at taxpayers' expense. It makes me very angry.

Carolyn

The liver transplant program works the same way.

I wonder who's paying for this?

The family, which has accepted donations something over $1 million. From the Orlando Sentinel:

By Lisa Orkin Emmanuel | The Associated Press
Posted January 15, 2005

MIAMI -- An 11-month-old Japanese boy smiled and laughed in his mother's arms Friday as doctors talked of his progress from a six-organ transplant, an operation done in this South Florida city because children's organ donations are banned in Japan.
Yosuke Ohashi underwent the 81/2-hour transplant of a liver, pancreas, stomach, small and large intestines, and spleen Dec. 24 at the University of Miami's Jackson Memorial Medical Center.
"Finally we got the gift of God on Christmas Eve," said Yukiho Ohashi, the boy's father. "I really thank to God . . . I cannot believe [it] yet. I feel really fantastic at this moment."
Tomoaki Kato, the UM physician who led the transplant team, said the first two years after such an operation are the most difficult, but he added that there is a 90 percent survival rate for the first year.
"He is still not out of the woods yet, but to have a very good start like this, it helps," Kato said. "This child has done remarkably well compared to others."
Although other children have received transplants with more organs, this case drew interest because Japanese law does not let children under the age of 15 donate organs, forcing families to leave the country for transplants.
Kato said the law may be revised this year and this case could help spur the change.
"I do think that some of the success of a little child like this with the help of the organ-donor children, that will have a pretty positive impact on the Japanese public," Kato said.
Yosuke, who has a healthy twin sister, Luna, was 5 months old when he was diagnosed with "mid-gut volvulus." The condition, in which the intestine twists around its root, left him with only a tiny portion of his small bowel and large intestine.
His liver then deteriorated from complications of intravenous feeding.
"He was really, really sick," Kato said. "His life would not last for probably more than a few months without the transplant."
The family first heard of Kato through a friend. After a visit in August, they came to Miami in November for the transplant.
They managed to raise $1 million for medical costs and other expenses in two months with the help of family and friends in Japan and Chile.
"We were nearly giving up . . . We try to see for any method to save his life," Ohashi said.
The twins were born in Chile, where Ohashi and his wife, Yoshie, were based because of his job with a seafood trading company.
Yosuke will be released from the hospital this weekend, and the family will stay in Miami for the next six months so doctors can supervise Yosuke's recovery. When the child is able, the family will go home to Japan.
An Italian girl, Eugenia Borgo, had a seven-organ transplant in Miami as an infant in 1997 and is now in grade school and healthy, hospital officials said.
Another Italian baby, 1-year-old Alessia Di Matteo, received an eight-organ transplant at the hospital last year but died this week.
"That is always a possibility because this is not perfect . . . We are just trying to do our best," Kato said.

Also, the University of Miami is a private institution, and I don't believe that their medical school or teaching hospital is publicly funded.

I have to admit, I found this an interesting story, and so here are some of the various ones that have appeared around the world about this case. From the Mainichi:

Japanese baby doing well after six-organ transplant in Miami

MIAMI, Florida -- An 11-month-old Japanese baby is in good condition after a six-organ transplant at a hospital here.
Yosuke Ohashi was born in January last year in Chile, where his 39-year-old father, Yukiho, works for a Japanese trading house.
Five months after being born, the baby boy was diagnosed as suffering from twisted intestines, and his internal organs began to deteriorate.
His parents arranged for Yosuke to undergo a transplant of his stomach, pancreas, spleen, liver, and the large and small intestines at the University of Miami Jackson Memorial Center on Christmas Eve.
Tomoaki Kato, a doctor at the hospital who led the operation, said that Yosuke apparently had only several months to live, but his condition has greatly improved since the 8-hour operation.
"I had almost given up, but I didn't want to have any regrets later," said Yukiho Ohashi about his decision to have the baby undergo the operation. "I now think Lady Luck smiled on us."
The father thanked those who donated funds for the surgery and the family of the baby who donated the organs.
Yosuke, in his mother's arms, smiled during a press conference here on Friday. "He suffered from jaundice and slept almost all day before the operation," said his mother, Yoshie Ohashi. "It seems like a miracle to see him fine now."
Doctor Kato said that for the first three to six months after the operation there is a chance of rejection.
Yosuke will be released shortly because his condition is quickly recovering. (Mainichi Shimbun, Japan, Jan. 15, 2005)

The parents didn't come here because of superior medical technology; as the original article stated, they came because Japanese law forbids transplants from donors under 15 years of age. From the Chicago Tribune:

Japanese baby has 6-organ transplant
Items compiled from Tribune news services
Published January 16, 2005
MIAMI, FLORIDA -- An 11-month-old Japanese boy smiled and laughed in his mother's arms Friday as doctors talked of his progress from a six-organ transplant, an operation done here because children's organ donations are banned in Japan.
Yosuke Ohashi underwent the 81/2-hour transplant of a liver, pancreas, stomach, small and large intestines and spleen Dec. 24 at the University of Miami Jackson Memorial Medical Center.
Dr. Tomoaki Kato, who led the transplant team, said the first two years after such an operation are the most difficult but added that there is a 90 percent survival rate for the first year.
Japanese law does not let children under the age of 15 donate organs, forcing families to leave the country for transplants.

Here's another story from the Japan Times, with some more details:

Baby's six-organ transplant, banned in Japan, done in U.S.

Compiled from AP, Kyodo
MIAMI -- An 11-month-old Japanese boy smiled and laughed in his mother's arms as doctors talked of his progress after a six-organ transplant, an operation performed in the U.S. because children's organ donations are banned in Japan.
Yosuke Ohashi underwent the 8 1/2-hour transplant of a liver, pancreas, stomach, small and large intestines and spleen on Dec. 24 at the University of Miami Jackson Memorial Medical Center.
"The life we once gave up on has been saved," said Yukiho Ohashi, whose son was the first Japanese to undergo such complex multiple organ transplantation.
Ohashi expressed hope that Japan will allow harvesting organs from brain-dead child donors, saying, "I can't understand why children are barred from getting organs transplanted in Japan."
Japanese law does not let children under the age of 15 donate organs, forcing families to leave the country for transplants.
The boy suffered a severe twisting of his intestines when he was 5 months old and was forced to have most of them removed, which made it difficult for his body to absorb nutrients.
He was brought to Miami from Chile where Ohashi, 39, lives with his wife, Yoshie. The boy was supposed to undergo an intestine transplant only, but his condition deteriorated rapidly from around October, with the functions of his liver and some other organs compromised.
During the operation, a team of doctors led by associate professor Tomoaki Kato transplanted the six organs from a 6-month-old brain-dead donor.
About one week after the operation, Yosuke recovered from jaundice and pain, which had tired him out, to exhibit healthy smiles, his parents and doctors said.
"This child has done remarkably well compared to others," Kato said. Other children have received similar transplants.
Kato said that while Yosuke weathered the immediate postoperative period without difficulty, the suppression of possible rejections of transplanted organs, which often occurs in the first three to six months after an organ transplant, could pose some problems.
The family will stay in Miami for six months so doctors can continue to supervise the child's recovery.

From the San Jose Mercury:

Japan ponders easing law as transplant saves baby

By Jacob Goldstein

Knight Ridder

MIAMI - A Christmas Eve operation at a Miami hospital might influence public debate in Japan over organ transplants.
Yosuke Ohashi received a stomach, pancreas, spleen, liver, small intestine and large intestine from a 6-month-old donor in West Palm Beach, Fla., during an eight-hour surgery Dec. 24 at Jackson Memorial Hospital. The procedure is unheard of in Japan, where children younger than 15 are prohibited from serving as organ donors. The donor was a baby boy from West Palm Beach.
During a news conference Friday announcing Yosuke's successful recovery, the 11-month-old sucked on a pacifier and stared quietly into the TV cameras' lights as his parents looked on.
``I am Buddhist, but many thanks to the God of the United States,'' the baby's father, Yukiho Ohashi, said in Spanish. ``This story was incredible -- a miracle.''
Tomoaki Kato, the University of Miami surgeon who performed the transplant, said the media coverage the operation has received in Japan could help change Japanese transplant law, which is under review.
``The success of a little child like this . . . could have an impact,'' he said.
The baby became sick when he was 5 months old because his intestines were not developing properly. He was hospitalized in Chile, where his parents were stationed because of his father's job. Problems with intravenous feeding caused more damage to his digestive system.
Japan did not legalize adult transplants of many organs until 1997, largely because the idea of brain death -- when the brain stops working but the heart continues pumping -- is not well-established there.
Shingo Egi, a reporter for Asahi Shimbun, said the subject remains controversial in his homeland.
``We must have . . . time to acknowledge that brain death is human death,'' he said.

Here's a version from the CBC:

Baby undergoes six-organ transplant
Last Updated Sat, 15 Jan 2005 17:58:38 EST
CBC News

MIAMI - An 11-month-old Japanese boy is recovering in a Florida hospital after receiving six organs from a donor baby.
The lead physician says he's encouraged by Yosuke Ohashi's early progress.

Yukiho Ohashi, left, and his wife, Yoshie, play with their baby while transplant doctor Tomoaki Kato, right, looks on at the Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. (AP photo)

Five months after being born, doctors discovered the little boy's intestines were twisted, causing his organs to deteriorate.
"He was really, really sick," said Dr. Tomoaki Kato of the University of Miami Jackson Memorial Center.
Surgeons replaced the baby's liver, pancreas, stomach, spleen, and large and small intestines in an eight-hour operation on Christmas Eve. The organs came from a six-month-old Florida boy.
The child's family had to travel to the United States for the operation because Japan does not allow organ donations from children under 15.
Yosuke quietly sucked a pacifier in his mother's arms at a news conference Friday where doctors announced his remarkable recovery.
Dr. Kato said that for the first three to six months after the operation there is a chance of rejection.
The baby will be able to leave the hospital in about a month if all goes well, said his father, who lives in Chile.

And here's one from local10.com:

Radical Transplant Surgery Saves Baby, May Change Laws

Baby Gets Life-Saving Surgery That Couldn't Happen In Japan

POSTED: 5:27 pm EST January 14, 2005

UPDATED: 6:16 pm EST January 14, 2005

MIAMI -- An organ transplant operation in Miami may not only save the life of a baby boy -- it may impact laws that could save the lives of other children half a world away.

Yosuke Ohashi underwent a life-saving six-organ transplant.

Yosuke Ohashi is 11 months old and he is recovering at the University of Miami-Jackson Medical Center from a six-organ transplant on Christmas Eve.
When Yosuke was five months old, he developed a potentially deadly condition. His intestines were twisted and his stomach, liver and pancreas were all dying.

Yosuke's parents, who are Japanese, were running a business in Chile. The Ohashis rallied friends and family and raised enough money for the lifesaving-transplant.
On Dec. 24, Yosuke received a new stomach, pancreas, spleen, liver and both small and large intestines. The donor of all the organs was a baby from West Palm Beach.
The organ transplant in Miami is big news in Japan. Japanese law does not allow children under 15 years old to be organ donors. Lawmakers are now revisiting that issue, and the success of Yosuke's case may have an impact.
Dr. Tomoaki Kato, at UM-JMC, says Yosuke's case may help to sway the people of Japan so that children don't have to leave their country for medical help in the future.
As for Yosuke's parents, they aren't worried about politics. It's their son's second chance that has them smiling.
"I cannot believe this yet. I feel fantastic. At this moment I want to thank you for everything and everybody," his father, Yuhiko Ohashi, said.
Kato says this is one of the fastest recoveries from a multiple organ transplant that he's ever seen. Yosuke will be out of the hospital Saturday, just in time to celebrate his first birthday right here in South Florida.

Here's another one from Australia's The Age:

Baby's six-organ transplant Miami, Florida
January 16, 2005

Yukiho Ohashi, left, and his wife Yoshie play with their baby, 11-month-old Yosuke, while transplant doctor Tomoaki Kato, right, looks on at the Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.
Photo: AP

An 11-month-old Japanese boy smiled and laughed in his mother's arms as doctors talked of his progress from a six-organ transplant, an operation done in the United States because children's organ donations are banned in Japan.
Yosuke Ohashi underwent the eight-and-a-half-hour transplant of a liver, pancreas, stomach, small and large intestines and spleen on December 24 at the University of Miami Jackson Memorial Medical Centre in Florida.
"Finally we got the gift of God on Christmas Eve," said Yukiho Ohashi, the boy's father.
Tomoaki Kato, the University of Miami physician who led the transplant team, said the first two years after such an operation are the most difficult, but he added that there is a 90 per cent survival rate for the first year.
"This child has done remarkably well compared to others," Kato said today.
Other children have received similar transplants, but this case drew interest because Japanese law does not let children under the age of 15 donate organs, forcing families to leave the country for transplants.
Kato said the law may be revised this year and this case may help implement the change.
Yosuke, who has a healthy twin sister, was five months old when diagnosed with "mid gut volvulus". The condition, where the intestine twists around its root, left him with only a tiny portion of his small bowel and large intestine. His liver then deteriorated from complications of intravenous feeding.
The family will stay in Miami for six months so doctors can continue to supervise Yosuke's recovery.

Your article recap post is the most informative and best layed out that I have ever seen. Thanks for the time and effort.

"I am Buddhist, but many thanks to the God of the United States," the baby's father, Yukiho Ohashi, said in Spanish. "This story was incredible - a miracle."

I know. What an odd thing to say.

Your article recap post is the most informative and best layed out that I have ever seen. Thanks for the time and effort.

You are welcome, and thank you for the compliment.

I found this an interesting story, and I wasn't the only one apparently: it had very widespread coverage for me to choose from.

"I am Buddhist, but many thanks to the God of the United States," the baby's father, Yukiho Ohashi, said in Spanish. "This story was incredible - a miracle."

A Japanese Buddhist thanking the God of the U.S., in ...Spanish? This rivals the leftists' idea of multiculturalism. And why do the Japanese allow adult organ transplants, but aren't ready for a brain dead baby giving transplants? Is it a religious thing?
Ah, God Bless the little one. Hope he makes it.

I wonder who's paying for this?

An excellent question. Probably the parents. Japanese people work very hard and have alot of pride.

Thanks for all the work on this. I stand corrected. The funds came from the U.S. My brother says Japanese folks work real hard and don't accept charity well, so I assumed they payed. If I were in their shoes, I would accept it to save a baby. I am all for not allowing foreigners to come here and get free medical, but looking at that little baby, my conscience can't say anything too negative because the little tot would have died without the transplant.

The funds came from the U.S.

I believe that everything that I have read indicated that the funds came from Japan and Chile. Where did you see that there were funds from the U.S.?

Japanese baby recovering after six-organ transplant in Florida

Um, let's see: bourdon, blockflote, diapason, flute...
Somebody help me here.

Hi snowislander. I assumed they came from the US because either the hospital or the paper helped organize a fund drive? I could be mistaken. In any event, regardless of who paid, I am happy the little tyke is doing well.

Yukiho is a very cute baby.

That should be: Yosuke is a very cute baby.

I assumed they came from the US because either the hospital or the paper helped organize a fund drive?

In the Orlando Sentinel story (the first one), it has:

They managed to raise $1 million for medical costs and other expenses in two months with the help of family and friends in Japan and Chile.

I didn't see anything about U.S. fundraisers. While the hospital might have such a program being a private hospital (as far as I know, I haven't visited that hospital or researched it), I haven't seen any indication of such.