Posted on 07/05/2007 11:34:16 AM PDT by Bronco_Buster_FweetHyagh
What does "ground zero" mean to you? And how do you know "different"?
Try reading, with an open mind, some people who might just "know different" from you:
The Real Myths of Organ Donation
THE HEART-STOPPING TRUTH ABOUT ORGAN DONATION
What is ‘brain death’? A British physician’s view
Forbes Magazine: Desperate Arrangements - "The demand for transplants can't be met by altruistic organ banks, so Internet brokers are stepping into the breach. It's not a pretty picture."
Washington Post: Organ Demand Forces Dilemmas - "Preemptive and invasive organ preservation without family consent is just one of several increasingly aggressive organ procurement strategies coming into use in this country... [Washington D.C. law already permits "organ harvesting" without consent]"
I would have felt funny about being compensated, and I think that type of element would cause more problems with the decision making process for the families.
add $$ into the picture and then it isn’t about trying to figure out what the patient would have wanted -
On a biography page Roozrokh lists Farsi as other languages spoken. Now just where do they speak that?
http://www.permanente.net/homepage/kaiser/doctor/hootanroozrokh/
“””””I have nothing against organ donation , it saves and improves lives...””””
Does it? What about the donors’ lives - is it possible their lives would be saved if there was less emphasis on their by-products?
The brain dead? More research on brain resuscitation? More research on comatose parameters?
Just asking.
“The brain dead? More research on brain resuscitation? More research on comatose parameters?”
excellent questions - and these are questions I asked of the doctors and our family member who works in this area.
It is also why I found the Schiavo case so compelling, because if my daughter had exhibited JUST ONE SIGN of brain activity - we would have made a different decision.
“”””Ruben Navarro, who was dying of a rare metabolic disorder, had been on life support for four days and was expected to die.”””
Question: How viable could Ruben’s liver/spleen/pancreas been if he was dying from a rare, incurable(?) metabolic disorder?
Why was he not eligible to get a transplant?
See what I mean? - this is just too inequitable/unethical.
I work in a hospital setting dealing with patients who are sometimes pronounced brain dead due to trauma. In my facility nobody gets different treatment because they have or have not signed a donor card or whether they do or do not have insurance. Nothing is done without family consent and families are not pressured. Flow studies are done on the brain at different intervals to diagnose brain death. I’m sure there are abuses within the system, but they aren’t the norm and I’ve never seen anything that raised my ethical eyebrows. There is so much oversight and review by different parties it would be very difficult for graft to occur. The people involved in the process are caring, well trained, and ethical. They are involved because they are committed to saving lives, but not at the expense of murdering an ill or injured patient. The harvest team doesn’t come from within the hospital. They have no contact with the donor or the donor’s family. I will look at your links with an open mind, but ask you have an open mind too. The picture being painted on this thread of money grubbers butchering patients to line their pockets is ludicrous. This is not something done lightly — our whole facility is saddened when a life is lost and dollar signs are far from anybody’s mind.
Find for the Plaintiff. This happens all too often. The profits in the transplant biz are astronomical and more than likely, put on a second set of books.
Of course. Scum they are.
Tom Selleck was a victim/character in the movie Coma. I have the book written as a sci-fi novel.
You can donate any money to a charity if you wish... obviously in the case of a minor the parents or guardian would be in control of any decision... as you have a cardiac surgeon in the family I’m going to assume that you have no money problems of consequence... My father died in the last year leaving my mother on a poor financial footing despite a pension (cut in half at his death) and SS and a small insurance policy,, he was a success , a salesman for IBM who made more than quota in most years (beginning in the glory years of the early 1960’s) but was unable to save due to medical bills related to my younger sister (20% of insane and inflated medical surgical bills are enough to destroy any savings), I don’t know what organs (if any) of his were used to treat others ,, I know he was an organ donor, it would have been nice to let his gift(s) assist my mother. I don’t have all the answers but it appears that in 10-20 years we will be able to salvage failing organs with adult stem cell treatments... I can see very clearly your ethical concerns when it comes to end-of-life donations ,,, I would like to see the rules discarded for blood donations and other living donor donations.
“””I work in a hospital setting....”
Beautifully written and comforting to those who support organ transplantation.
I do not share the philosophy that organ harvesting & replanting is “a life well lived”, for the donor or recipient.
So, fine, don’t offer to donate yours, and do not accept a transplanted organ. I completely disagree with your philosophy, or fears, or whatever the source of your objections are - in fact your objections completely baffles me. I will continue to be prepared to have my organs harvested if at some point I can no longer make use of them, if it can help someone else.
The harvest team doesn’t come from within the hospital. They have no contact with the donor or the donor’s family.Read the story. The "harvest team" was INTRODUCED to the family by the hospital. My gas-passer friend tells me that the glee in the butchers voice as they dismember the living body and talk about the monetary value of the organs is real and constant.
I can’t imagine making that decision, but at least you had someone there who could help you through it.
My father in law is a physician and I have made it very clear to him and in my living will under what circumstances to terminate life support.
Hopefully they can bring capital murder charges against him.
“as you have a cardiac surgeon in the family I’m going to assume that you have no money problems of consequence...”
I wish!! :)
His earnings are his own.
we’re doing better now though...at that point in our lives we could have used some extra money...but who doesn’t?
I still would have felt funny about receiving it though.
I think you are right about the adult stem cells though - it is amazing what they’ve come up with in a short amount of time.
The autopsy confirmed my daughter’s injury was to the brain stem, and so far there is no recovering from that type of injury - or from brain death.
It would be nice though to read someday, that a family in our position could be told that their child will receive adult stem cell treatment, and this would reverse the damage.
How fantastic would that be?
“My father in law is a physician and I have made it very clear to him and in my living will under what circumstances to terminate life support.”
By “life support” do you mean the ventilator?
Even if we hadn’t gone the route of donation - we had no legal means of fighting a disconnection.
Once brain death was declared, the doctors had the legal righ to turn off the ventilator.
“””So, fine, don’t offer to donate yours,”””
Self-righteous pomposity is so unbecoming!
I am fine with termination ONCE I am legitimately brain dead.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.