directed organ donation

jason

jason

Seanchaí
Staff member
What do you think about directed organ donation? Should donors have the right to decide who receives their organs after death? Does this create the possibility for abuse, as organs could be distributed based on religion or race, or even sold for profit? Is a 'lottery' the only truly fair way to distribute organs?
 
Windrider

Windrider

Plus-sized tuxedo model
Jason said:
What do you think about directed organ donation? Should donors have the right to decide who receives their organs after death? Does this create the possibility for abuse, as organs could be distributed based on religion or race, or even sold for profit? Is a 'lottery' the only truly fair way to distribute organs?
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It happens all the time. A person needs a kidney and finds his sister is a match so she sacrifices for her brother. Bone marrow transplants are common within families The donor wouldn't consider the pain and risk of a bone marrow donation if it wasn't going to somebody he cared about.

Organ donations after death may be a different can of worms, though. If I needed a new heart and yours was a match, could I pay your family for your heart? What if it was still beating at the time?
 
2SONDAD

2SONDAD

Husband, father, son, Mason.
I agree with Jaya.

I'm a kidney recipient from a total stranger who died in a car accident. I will always be grateful to his family for the gift I received and it is still a evry bizarre feeling to know that I have an organ that was created in another human being's body.

It really isn't a lottery. Depending on the organ, there are several factors involved. The kidney is a different matter; thanks to dialysis, it is primarily 1st come, first served. Since I had my transplant almost 9 rys ago to the day, things have changed a bit- they now have round robin donations where friends/spouses can donate to a total stranger, whose friend/spouse donates to someone else, etc. That really speeds up the process. I waited 5 years.

If I had to read between the lines of your question, would this have anything to do Dick Cheney's transplant? The question of special treatment?
 
2SONDAD

2SONDAD

Husband, father, son, Mason.
The news was questioning whether Cheney get preferential treatment in receiving his new heart. I don't think that he did; he was on the list for 24 months. Rumors fly when you're a public figure.
 
Bob Franks

Bob Franks

Past District Deputy Grand Lecturer
2SONDAD said:
The news was questioning whether Cheney get preferential treatment in receiving his new heart. I don't think that he did; he was on the list for 24 months. Rumors fly when yofigure a public figure.
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I agree! If he was going to get special treatment, it would have happened WAY before 21 months.
Anyway, his party no longer holds the White House.

S&F
 
jason

jason

Seanchaí
Staff member
2SONDAD said:
If I had to read between the lines of your question, would this have anything to do Dick Cheney's transplant? The question of special treatment?
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The story came from critically ill infants Kaylee Wallace and Lillian O'Connor have been linked by the possibility that the former might save the latter's life. Kaylee has a congenital disease and her parents have expressed the desire that, if she dies, her heart should be transplanted into Lillian.

This however has caused issues in the medical world, mostly ethical.
 
H

Hank

Guest
Thank you Brother Bob.
I was only messing Brother Jaya.
April fools day.
 
2SONDAD

2SONDAD

Husband, father, son, Mason.
Jason said:
The story came from critically ill infants Kaylee Wallace and Lillian O'Connor have been linked by the possibility that the former might save the latter's life. Kaylee has a congenital disease and her parents have expressed the desire that, if she dies, her heart should be transplanted into Lillian.

This however has caused issues in the medical world, mostly ethical.
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Hmm, I really have to wonder about that. Is it any more unethical than someone donating a kidney to their spouse? A parent donating to their child or vice-verse? A sibling to a sibling? Those are perfectly acceptable, directed donations that happen daily. Is this different because they are not related? Unrelated directed donations happen all the time, at least with kidneys, even between friends. Is this different because it was a heart?

Wow, this hits home with me. Even though, my kidney wasn't directed to me, I realize what a gift organ donation is.

Even though I am not supposed to know anything about my donor, I do. I know who he was, and what happened to him, and I have had communication with his family. I also know that most of his organs were transplanted and while I was in surgery, another patient was in surgery right next door to me, getting part of his liver. I read a story not too long ago about my donors' mother meeting the person who received his heart.

I guess my point is, directed or undirected, organ donation is one of the greatest acts of love imaginable. I hope everyone thinks about it.
 
2SONDAD

2SONDAD

Husband, father, son, Mason.
Actually in going back and re-reading some of the Cheney story- the debate wasn't as much about special treatment, as much as it was about age. Was he too old and did he get special treatment in getting the heart at his age?

I think age shouldn't be as much of an issue as it once was. Without hijacking the thread.......should age be an issue in receiving an organ?
 
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