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Is this the first hint at the "death panels" so many feared would be a part of Obamacare? Will a 20 year old who has kidney disease AND heart problems be knocked lower on the list than a 25 year old that only needs the kidney transplant? Will they look at the 25 year old and say they can earn more and pay the government more than the 20 year old?

April 14, 2008, 6:00 a.m. Code RedThe organ shortage is not something to play down. By Sally Satel & Benjamin Hippen A few weeks ago, the Washington Post broke the dramatic medical news that as many as one third of all people waiting for an organ transplant are actually ineligible to receive one. Could this mean that the shortage of kidneys, livers, hearts, and lungs is not as dire as we thought? Unfortunately, no. If anything, the fact that many patients are ineligible is a sign of urgency, not a reason to be complacent. According to the United Network...

The nation's organ-transplant network is preparing a major change in how it rations scarce kidneys that would favor young patients over old in an effort to wring more life out of donated organs. Today, a donated kidney generally goes to the person who has been waiting longest in the region in which it becomes available, with exceptions made for certain medical factors. A kidney from a 25-year-old donor could be transplanted into a 75-year-old, who is likely to die years before the kidney would have stopped working. The new policy is being developed by the United Network for Organ Sharing,...

His case had been reviewed, the letter said. ``In addition, we have reviewed your personal Web site.'' The American Society of Transplant Surgeons and LifeLink are ``strongly opposed to the solicitation of organs or organ donors by recipients or their agents through Web sites,'' the letter continued. ``After careful deliberation, we will not consider any living donor for you.'' Crionas was stunned by the decision. ``I was dumbfounded ... I'm, like, are you serious?'' The LifeLink letter said he could be put back on the national list to wait for a ``deceased'' kidney of someone who had made provisions to...

HARTFORD — Besides being an incredibly selfless act, donating your kidney or bone marrow to help another can be very expensive. Two local lawmakers hope to provide some relief in the form of a tax credit. Their proposal would provide a tax credit of up to $10,000 for a taxpayer who donates an organ or partial organ, such as a kidney, pancreas, intestine, lung or bone marrow. The credit would apply to surgery-related transportation, lodging and lost wages. The bill only applies to living organ donors. The bill is being co-sponsored by state Rep. Mary Ann Carson, R-New Fairfield, and...

<p>LOS ANGELES  — Last year alone 60 percent of the 82,000 Americans waiting for an organ died without ever receiving a transplant (search). Now a new private group wants to change these odds -- at least for its own members.</p> <p>Dave Undis is on a crusade to change the way donated organs are dispensed.</p>

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A group wants Congress to test whether cash incentives would encourage more families to donate the organs of relatives following their deaths. The Pittsburgh-based group wants a 1984 law prohibiting financial incentives for organ donations to be rewritten to allow a project that would award $5,000 to families who authorize a deceased relative's organs to be used for transplantation. The unnamed coalition of transplant surgeons, academics, religious leaders and activists sent a letter Wednesday to 40 senators and members of Congress. "It would just greatly increase the number of organs that are donated," Harold Kyriazi, a University...

<p>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.</p> <p>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.</p>