Report Duke Univ. Violated Transplant Laws (Rules Require 'Non-Resident' Be In U.S. Legally)

WRAL.com ^ | March 4, 2003 | WRAL.com

[jern]

DURHAM, N.C. -- According to a published report, Duke University Medical Center violated national transplant rules when it accepted Jesica Santillan for a heart and lung transplant.

USA Today reported Monday that The United Network for Organ Sharing - the organization that oversees the nation's transplant system - requires that non-resident organ recipients be in the country legally.

[lsee]

Dukie, you got some 'splainin' to do!

[SouthernFreebird]

Being illegal they should'nt be allowed to sue either.JMO

[mabelkitty]

She was a minor - who folks should have been here legally to give their consent.

I say all Federal money for research be yanked from Duke for breaking the law.

[Carlucci]

The "opportunity cost" victim should sue -- the one who didn't get the heart but should have if the rules had been followed.

[Constitution Day]

Dook ping

[camle]

on that matter I heartily agree

[afraidfortherepublic]

...the one who didn't get the heart but should have if the rules had been followed.

Correction. The TWO who didn't get the hearts and lungs but would have if the rules had been followed.

[mvpel]

When was she granted a humanitarian visa?

[george wythe]

Illegal aliens donate more organs than they get

Only about 1 percent of all U.S. transplants in 2001 were performed for undocumented immigrants, while about 2 percent of all deceased organ donors were undocumented, according to statistics from national organ sharing organizations.

One percent of the approximately 24,000 total transplants in 2001 were conducted on undocumented immigrants. In the same year, 2 percent of the roughly 6,000 deceased organ donors, about twice the rate of those who received the transplants, were from undocumented immigrants, the El Paso Times reported Sunday, citing numbers from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), based in Richmond, Va.

Houston Chronicle

[george wythe]

Transplants on Illegal Aliens:

Receivers: 2,400
Donors: 6,000.

Should American citizens refuse to receive organs harvested from illegal aliens residing in the US?

[FITZ]

It seems Duke broke quite a number of rules, they didn't verify the patient was on a list of prescreened recipients, they didn't verify organ-patient compatibility, no cross-checks were done. I wonder what their hurry was? I wonder too about the organ procurement center releasing valuable organs to a hospital not planning to give the organs to a patient on the waiting list which you'd think they'd have a copy of and make sure it was being adhered to.

It'd be interesting to see how much money actually was donated and how much was to be given by taxpayers --- donors should be able to donate to whoever they wish ---but maybe they could donate the money so that countries like Mexico further develop their own programs, she could have had the transplant in Mexico because they do them there.

[jiggyboy]

It depends on whether the person laughed at Archie Bunker in that episode when he was in the hospital and had to get his (rare type?) blood from a black woman.

[GovernmentShrinker]

donors should be able to donate to whoever they

But not to fund illegal activities (granted, most of the donors to this project probably didn't realize the girl was here illegally and/or that it was illegal for Duke to perform the surgery on an illegal alien).

[Atlas Sneezed]

Since many donated organs come from young, otherwise healthy people killed in auto-accidents, and many of these involve drunk driving, why should it be a surprise that those in a culture where drunk-driving is commonplace are over-represented among organ donors?

[FITZ]

Yeah ---I didn't mean they should support anything illegal but it would be better and cheaper to improve other countries programs rather than us take on an entire family to support for the rest of their lives. Taxpayers have and will be paying for the free school for the siblings of this girl because they're not going back. It's good to save lives but we need to be practical ---keeping Mexico completely dependent on us isn't a good solution.

[texastoo]

I don't believe the article you posted is telling the truth.

About two years ago, I was talking with the organ donation cordinator in my area about about the number of organs donated by this area, south Texas. She stated that this area , which is approximately 95% hispanic donates the least amount of organs in the U.S. By the way, she is hispanic. This is documented and when I talk with her again, I'll try to find a website for you.

Also, I have never seen the I.N.S. involved in this kind of situation. If family is not here, the hospital writes a note to the border patrol and the whole family including 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th cousins comes across the border.

[george wythe]

Let's see.

Actual figures from the United Network for Organ Sharing or your anecdotal evidence.

I'm having a hard time deciding which one is true.