MARCH was National Kidney Month. I did my part: I got a new one. My good fortune, alas, does not befall nearly enough people, and the federal government deserves much of the blame.
Posted on 05/17/2006 5:27:34 PM PDT by Born Conservative
Today 70,000 Americans are waiting for kidneys, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, which maintains the national waiting list. Last year, roughly 16,000 people received one (about 40 percent are from living donors, the others from cadavers). More are waiting for livers, hearts and lungs, which mostly come from deceased donors, bringing the total to about 92,000. In big cities, where the ratio of acceptable organs to needy patients is worst, the wait is five to eight years and is expected to double by 2010. Someone on the organ list dies every 90 minutes. Tick. Tick. Tick.
Until my donor came forward, I was desperate. I had been on the list only for a year and was about to start dialysis. I had joined a Web site, MatchingDonors.com, and found a man willing to give me one of his kidneys, but he fell through. I wished for a Sears organ catalog so I could find a well-matched kidney and send in my check. I wondered about going overseas to become a "transplant tourist," but getting a black market organ seemed too risky.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Aren't we all on that list?
I think they forgot "and highly unethical" in that sentence. The point of origin for most of these black market organs is no big secret.
"More are waiting for livers, hearts and lungs, which mostly come from deceased donors"
Really??
Really. Not all organ donors are deceased.
Live donors can donate a kidney or portion of the liver.
Living right behind me is one of the kindest, most loving man I have ever known. Six years ago, he had a heart transplant from a 22 year old accident victim. I shudder to think what would have happened to this wonderful husband, father, grandfather and neighbor had that young man not signed the donor card.
"Paradoxically, our nation's organ policy is governed by a tenet that closes off a large supply of potential organs — the notion that organs from any donor, deceased or living, must be given freely."
She seems to confound freely with free or she intends to "borrow" organs.
Anyone as hostile to the system that worked for her must have some long-dulled axe to grind.
I'm guessing most hearts and lungs come from deceased donors, no?
I understand that, and "portion" was not specified in re the liver. As written, that sentence is deserving of derision, althought this is a serious subject that needs discussion.
Someday they may find a cure for what killed you, but what if you froze to death?
Cryo-chamber
I gave my heart to an Italian girl in 1964.
There is no right to spare parts whatever the source; the longer the average person lives the less useful his remaining organs will be and so we will always need the reckless and the unfortunate to supply the choice cuts.
The article states " "Paradoxically, our nation's organ policy is governed by a tenet that closes off a large supply of potential organs — the notion that organs from any donor, deceased or living, must be given freely."
Does she mean freely as in informed consent or freely as in one can not charge for their organs?
There are very strong ethical reasons why the buying and selling of organs is verboten. See the movie Coma for a very good overview of this issue.
A friend of mine just gave one of her kidneys away on May 15th....Monday....to her best friend.....things are going well, so far....they are both still in hospital.
a PS. I am an organ donor. When I got my DL renewed some years back I was asked if I wanted it noted on my DL. I said yes but I better not haved someone knocking at my door with a " Hi we're here to pick up your kidney"
Wow how did you survive, and how did you get a new one?
She should have said free, but people who say they feel badly ought to say they feel bad unless they are lacking in dexterity, so who knows what she meant?
If we'd stop giving kidneys to people who destroyed their own through self-stuffing-induced diabetes, there wouldn't be any shortage. I have a friend whose father's kidneys were destroyed by a genetic disorder which is controllable, but was discovered too late to save his own kidneys. He waited years for a transplant, while hordes of face-stuffers were getting theirs. We're never going to reclaim a culture of personal responsibility, if we keep bailing people out of the results of their irresponsibility, and sending them the message that they're just as deserving as responsible people.
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