Let Aussies pay for organs

Let Aussies pay for organs

Article from: Sunday Herald Sun
Suellen Hinde
March 02, 2008 12:00am

AFTER 6 1/2 years waiting for a kidney transplant, Melbourne man Peter Cardamone wants the law changed so he can buy an organ in Australia.

The 38-year-old was born with the severe kidney disease nephro reflux.

It has made him a ticking time bomb.

He had one kidney removed when he was a teenager and has been waiting for his second kidney to fail.

While he could travel overseas and buy an organ, he prefers not to.

"It's a bit dodgy," he said.

"I would rather be able to do it here in Australia under a good quality health system with my medical team able to look after me.

"I, like others, have endured a horrendous life on dialysis.

"I have been on dialysis now for 6 1/2 years and desperately waiting for the call, like everyone else on this enormous list, for a kidney transplant to save and change my quality of life."

Mr Cardamone said it was time authorities woke up to the fact that simply relying on organ donation was not going to work.

"Why do we have a law in Australia that is allowed to dictate what we are allowed to do when it concerns our private health and wellbeing?" he said.

"We should have full right as a person to be able to do whatever we can to regain our health and obtain a kidney, even if it means by way of payment.

''A stranger should be allowed to sell me their kidney; it is a mutual saleable transaction like any other."

Mr Cardamone endures three five-hour sessions of dialysis a week, leaving him tired and frail.

"I just want the chance to live a good life," he said.