Natalie Colle: Poof, You Have A Kidney

06-Jun-09, 11:28 AM (EDT)
Natalie Cole
Poof, You Have A Kidney
Courtney Comstock

Singer Natalie Cole bypassed thousands of people to get an organ. How did she do it?

There are nearly 80,000 people on the wait list for a kidney transplant, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. So how did Natalie Cole, the Grammy-award winning singer, receive an organ on May 26, bypassing thousands of people?

It doesn't hurt that Cole drummed up public sympathy by appearing on Larry King to discuss her time of need, which yielded thousands of offers. (She ended up getting a transplant from a deceased donor match.) It may seem outlandish but it's nothing out of the norm -- the phenomenon was recently mocked on an episode of 30 Rock that detailed a "Kidney Now" benefit.

There have been cases where have been solicited. People take out billboards, ads in paper, Craigslist postings ... " Joel Newman, assistant director of communications at the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network told Forbes.

Special treatment for celebrities is a touchy subject, as stars have adopted babies and received organs in what seems like minutes. But the loophole that Cole found, direct donation, is available to anyone. It accounts for only a tiny percentage of yearly transplants, but the law also enables family members to donate to each other regardless of their standing on the waiting list.

On the other hand, there are reasons to be nervous about the process even if preferential treatment isn't a factor. "Direct donation puts organ donors in the position to expect something. There are possibilities for extortion," Art Caplan, a Biomedical Ethics professor at the University of Pennsylvania, told Forbes. He said he would hope that when the donor says, "I want to donate to through direct donation," the doctor would reply, "would you consider donating to Mrs. X who's going to die in three days "?

There's no question the organ-sharing system is flawed, but what can be done about it? "You need huge numbers in the donor pool in order to match the number of donors you need on any given day," says Caplan, who identifies three ways to revolutionize organ donation: growing kidneys (funding stem cell research), building better mechanical organs and presuming consent to donate organs whereby people would have to actively opt-out of donating organs rather than opt-in.

Cole's super-speedy transplant may have caused a media stir, but at the very least, it has people talking about a crucial topic and perhaps more lives will be saved because of it.

http://www.forbes.com/2009/06/03/organs-celebrities-hollywood-transplants-markets-faces-media.html?feed=rss_personalfinance