My last living relative is strungling with kidney failure. I want him to leave the country to buy a kidney in a third world counrty. What are your thoughts? I neglected to say he is not willing to do so. I am not a match for him. I am desprate to find him a kidney and would buy one if I could. I just want to know is there anyone else out there that share my thoughts on this subject? I feel so helpless in this matter. I’m also angry that there should be some kind of way if a person wanted to sell him a kidney they could do so with no fear of the law. Someone please share your educated opinions and thoughts. I’m angry and hurting right now. The thought that I am 40 years old and no other living family other than him.
Sounds like a IMHO thread…
I understand your level of frustration. I’ve been through it. But going to a third world country to find one is a bad idea on many levels.
The best thing he can do is go to dialysis and put his name on the transplant list.
I’ll give you the general argument against the legal selling of human organs, as I’ve heard them. The theory is that by allowing people to sell their organs (or those of a deceased relative who gave them that authority) will motivate people to always sell them (as opposed to the current system where they’re given away for free), meaning only the wealthy would be able to get transplants. There’s also the theoretical possibility of people being murdered for their organs.
Currently, there is a chance (however slim) your relative will get the kidney replacement he needs. However, if they were sold like any other commodity, and you didn’t have enough money, he’d have even less of a chance.
Would you really wish your current situation on somebody else?
Keep looking for a solution that doesn’t involve exploiting some unfortunate soul.
THe OP is really looking for informed opinions, so —off to IMHO from Generl Questions.
samclem, moderator
Are you familiar with Paired Donation, or it’s bigger, more complicated cousin, Non-simultaneous Extended Altruistic Donor Chains (NEAD Chains)? It’s basically a form of kidney donation done by people in just this sort of situation. Zetty with a healthy kidney wishes she could donate to Alice, but she isn’t a match. Yolanda is friends with Betty, but not a match. Wendy is friends with Carla, but not a match. Paired donation, however, finds that Zetty is a match for Betty, and Yolanda is a match for Carla, and Wendy is a match for Alice. So everyone who wants to donates “on behalf of” their friend who needs a kidney, but the actual kidney goes to the person it matches.
About a year ago, a huge chain of 30 donors, 30 recipients and 60 operations was done. Pretty amazing.
If it’s something you’d be willing to seriously consider doing, you can find out more at the Alliance for Paired Donation.
I second this. Plus, you could help get the word out that he needs a donor. You never know who might be willing to step up.
Another issue about the selling of organs, it would compel those who are poor or otherwise financially struggling to part with an organ out of a sense of desperation when it may not be in their best interest, physically speaking.
Not to get this moved to Great Debates, but I’ve never bought this line of thinking. You might just as well say that paying people money to work compels those who are sick and poor to keep a job when it might not be in their best interest, physically speaking.
But there are certainly other reasons not to go to a third world country and buy a kidney. Disease being a good one. I certainly wouldn’t trust a Third World kidney to be free of hepatitis or HIV; First World kidneys and donors go through a very thorough screening process.
I don’t know if I buy that. If we allowed kidneys to be sold, a lot of people would sell kidneys who wouldn’t have donated them, and a dramatic supply increase would keep the pressure on prices. And really rich people can game the system like Steve Jobs did anyway.
Interesting JAMA article about the economic consequences of selling a kidney in India. According to the article, most people sold a kidney to pay off debt. Average pay-off: slightly more than $1000. Most people were not only still in debt after parting with their kidney, they also enjoyed a decrease in economic status and a decrease in health status. Also, most of the people donating were women, and the article noted that, given the sometimes second-class status of women in Indian society, it was sometimes questionable how “voluntary” the donation truly was. The article’s conclusion:
Another interesting article about using hepatitis C-positive kidneys for hepatitis C-positive people in need of kidneys. Apparently huge numbers of kidneys are thrown away because they are from hep-C positive donors, but the risks of transplanting a hep-C positive kidney into a patient who already has hep-C may outweight the risks of continuing dialysis while waiting for a hep-C-free kidney. Which doesn’t mean much for you if you are trying to avoid hepatitis-C in the first place, but I thought it was interesting nonetheless! : )
love
yams!!
And there is the issue of not all third world kidneys are given voluntarily. It is not unheard of for a poor ignorant indigent to be offered a free/discounted hospital stay for some minor surgery, only to have an organ harvested while there! It’s hard to ever be sure the organ your getting is so acquired or not. It’s hard to imagine anyone willing to do such a thing for profit, much cares about the quality of the organ you are getting.
How would you feel if the transplant failed because of lax standards on the acquiring/screening side and you’re out thirty thou? Do you imagine you have any recourse? I find it a little telling the OP expressed no actual concern for his relative’s life beyond a desire to not be left ‘all alone in the world’. Maybe it’s just me, of course, or his phrasing?
There are actually negative effects on those who donate their ‘spare’ kidney. Among other things [the disease lack of screening pointed out in another post] the donor can end up with a number of negative effects from the removal operation all the way up to their own kidney failure on their remaining kidney.
I have followed these debates. Much less serious is the one over selling of eggs. I just want to raise the question. If poor people are barred from endangering their health to earn some money (which is what the argument often comes down to) how is it you let men go down into coal mines?
Because [at least in the US] there are a fair number of laws regulating health and safety, and a very large industry providing safety equipment. Mining safety has improved an amazing amount from the beginning of the previous century to today. If you get in an accident in a mine, or develop health issues there is an infrastructure in place to deal with it. If you get a kidney removed and then develop issues with the remaining one, the organleggers don’t give a shit, they certainly won’t give you a kidney and I guarantee that the poor schlub certainly will never be able to buy a replacement kidney…