Thoughts on organ donation

[okarol]

Thoughts on organ donation

DR. W. GIFFORD-JONES
April 19, 2008

Why would I rather deal with the Mafia than some religious people? Because I hate hypocrisy above all other things. I know the mob has a code it follows strictly, such as it is, and it's crystal clear to everyone what it's all about. But religious people talk constantly about brotherly love and yet condemn fellow humans to death. It's hypocrisy at its worst.

A report in the Medical Post says that Canadians are being forced to travel to China and India to purchase heart and kidney transplants. Their only alternative is death.

How can you blame people for seeking what's been labelled "transplantation tourism," to buy an organ in a foreign land? We all share the desire to live at any cost. So put yourself in the place of those facing untimely death from organ failure. Consider the odds they face in this bountiful country.

It's unbelievable that in Canada there are only 12.8 organ donors per million people. That is why every day two to three Canadians die from organ failure. In 1995, there were 2,500 people waiting for life-sustaining body parts. Today, the number has increased to 4,277. So why wouldn't patients facing certain death without a transplant start to look at foreign lands?

But what awaits them in surgery in these countries? I wish I could give a first-hand account. But one patient described the scene to me, saying it was a small, bare-bones setup in a row of buildings in a commercial area. Patients were standing around outside and there were overhanging wires, he said. And these patients were thousands of miles from family and friends realizing they may die from the transplant operation.

Let's not forget the poor, naive and unfortunate person who provides the organ. It appears that some young donors in poverty-stricken countries have no idea of what the kidney does or where it's located in the body.

Dr. Francis Delmonico, professor of surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, reports that 3,000 people in a Philippine slum area sold one of their kidneys. It had the dubious distinction of being called Kidneyville.

Other reports claim that after losing an organ brokers either refused to pay the donor or gave them a small fraction of the money collected. It's a cruel world for these innocents while scoundrels take advantage of their unwitting donation.

The grim, grisly fact is that Canadians should not have to go shopping for organs in foreign countries. Not when day after day, some religious people bury organs in caskets, organs that could be life-saving to another human. Moreover, the majority of religions claim to support organ donation.

So it's high time leaders of these religions stepped up to the plate and stopped the hypocrisy. Don't preach to me about brotherly love while desperate people search in vain for life-saving organs.

But I'll make a bet today. Several years ago I pleaded with religious leaders of this country to preach a sermon supporting organ donation. I'm not a graduate of any theological college. But for those who are, it shouldn't require much homework to deliver the message. Yet to my knowledge not a single sermon was delivered on this matter.

I'm sure there are those in congregations, similar to my religious patients, who exclaim, "I don't want to lose an organ because I believe it's important that my body remain whole." And yet some of these same people say they intend to be cremated.

Religious preachers could surely, if they tried, reassure their flock that no one will be denied admittance to Nirvana if they're missing a leg or a kidney. Isn't it just the soul that supposedly goes to Heaven?

It's time those in the pulpit rise to the occasion and deliver this Good Samaritan sermon. But hell will probably freeze over before that happens. They'll continue to preach "Do unto others as ye would have them do unto you." Then sit on their hands about this humanitarian matter. Shame, shame, shame.

Gifford-Jones is the pen name of Toronto physician Ken Walker. He can be contacted through his website at www.mydoctor.ca/gifford-jones.

http://news.guelphmercury.com/Life/article/318735

[stauffenberg]

I would go one step further and say that any healthy person who does not offer to donate one kidney as a live donor to a renal patient is not a Christian.  If the goal of Christian life is the closest imitation humanly possible of Christ's way of living, then how can anyone selfishly keep a surplus organ for themselves, when its removal will not harm their health at all, at the price of killing someone in need of a transplant by doing so? 

[petey]

Healthy people choose not to donate a kidney and be a living donor for varying reasons.  Who am I to question their reasons?  I certainly would not label them as "non-Christian," and, although I was a living donor and I am a caregiver to a husband who needs another transplant, I remember the verse from the Bible that states, "Judge not -- lest ye be judged."

[willieandwinnie]

Healthy people choose not to donate a kidney and be a living donor for varying reasons. Who am I to question their reasons? I certainly would not label them as "non-Christian," and, although I was a living donor and I am a caregiver to a husband who needs another transplant, I remember the verse from the Bible that states, "Judge not -- lest ye be judged."

I agree with petey. Totally.

[monrein]

Same here.  I don't want anyone to feel they "have" to donate a kidney.  It is a supremely generous and selfless gift but pressure or guilt of any kind should play no role whatsoever in it.

[annabanana]

You also have to take into account that most people are not AWARE of any of this, the needs, etc. I know, because I was one of those people until very recently. I knew nothing. No one has ever asked me about organ donation. All I knew was that it was an option on my drivers license. Call me dumb......but I believe people in general do not truly understand needs until they are made aware of them. OK, so now you can call me dumb AND optimistic, but I think most people would be donors if made aware of the great need. I would love to see ministers preach on this subject. And the donor stamp re-issued. And big posters on the walls when you get your license renewed. And pamphlets given out right before your driving test, etc. And speakers who go to the schools.    

[monrein]

That's so true annabanana.  It also makes a huge difference when you actually know someone personally who needs a kidney (or bone marrow or whatever). 

[annabanana]

It does, monrein. I never knew anything until Randy was faced with the probable need for kidney and  liver transplants. So I got online to ask about being a live donor and am suddenly made aware of all the needs. It's not right that it took Randy's illness to make me aware of it. People need to shout about it and I intend to be one of those people. 

[monrein]

We need all the loud mouthed advocates we can get so thanks and go get em girl.  My husband is the same as you.  He wants everyone to sign their donor cards and wants to be the one chosen to give me a kidney.

[petey]

You also have to take into account that most people are not AWARE of any of this, the needs, etc. I know, because I was one of those people until very recently. I knew nothing. No one has ever asked me about organ donation. All I knew was that it was an option on my drivers license. Call me dumb......but I believe people in general do not truly understand needs until they are made aware of them. OK, so now you can call me dumb AND optimistic, but I think most people would be donors if made aware of the great need. I would love to see ministers preach on this subject. And the donor stamp re-issued. And big posters on the walls when you get your license renewed. And pamphlets given out right before your driving test, etc. And speakers who go to the schools.   

annabanana -- I agree with you -- awareness is the key!  Before Marvin got sick in 1995, I knew NOTHING (nothing, I tell you) about dialysis or about being a living donor.  Yes, I had the "heart" on my driver's license since way back when, but -- dumb me -- I thought you could only donate if you were declared brain dead.  When it happened to us, it brought the awareness, the need, the desperation home.

[petey]

Same here. I don't want anyone to feel they "have" to donate a kidney. It is a supremely generous and selfless gift but pressure or guilt of any kind should play no role whatsoever in it.

monrein -- Right on, girl!  As a living donor myself, if I thought people were being made to feel they had to donate while they're alive and healthy, it would certainly cheapen my experience.  Being a living donor is something that I could never explain in words -- the whole thing did so much for ME (and I was the one giving up the healthy kidney).  Of course, it did a lot for my Marvin, too -- it got him off dialysis for three years and three months  .  But, for me, it was the opportunity of a lifetime to do something to save another person's life (just so happens to be a person I love more than I love myself), and that's not something you get the chance to do every day.  Being a living donor does something wonderful to your soul.  If I had been MADE to be a living donor, I don't think it would have meant the same to me.

[stauffenberg]

While more general knowledge and understanding of the need for organ donation would certainly confront more people with the choice, I doubt that more than 10% of them would agree to donate.  You have to keep in mind that many people condemned to slow death on dialysis are surrounded by family and friends who are in good health and who have matching blood types, but still not one of these closely connected people choses to donate. 

But those who do know about kidney disease and donation, and who prefer to keep their spare kidney in their own body, even if this miniscule advantage to them means the death by slow torture of another human being who dies becaus eof the lack of that donation, are selfish to the point of monstrosity, which is 100% inconsistent with any possible definition of Christianity.

It is perfectly legal to stand by idly watching while an infant dies from suffocation in a shallow pool of water at your feet, but this is not Christian, and it is not Christian tolerance either to excuse that behavior by saying we should not judge others and we should leave each person to decide how to govern his own life. 

[petey]

But, the bottom line (both legally and, I believe, morally) is that your body and its parts are yours while you are alive (your next-of-kin's if you are declared brain dead).  You should decide what parts are given away and what parts are not.  It's a very personal and private decision.  Yes, there are LOTS of healthy people in Marvin's family who have not offered to be tested to donate to him.  Do I understand their decision not to?  No, personally, I do not.  But ... I do respect their right not to; it is, afterall, their body. 

Could I stand by and watch a child drown in a pool of water (legal or not) -- no!  I couldn't stand to see a dog or a cat or a turtle or a frog drown (a snake, yes).  I would jump in and risk peril to my own life to save a child, another person, or an animal (all except the snake).  But...that's me.  If you choose not to, that's your decision.  Maybe you have your own reasons (that I don't know and wouldn't understand) as to why you would not.  Also, along with your decision, you have to live with the consequences of not doing so, just like those who are in Marvin's family and have chosen not to be tested to donate to him have to live with their decisions.  Each person must decide for himself/herself what to do with his/her own body, and each person will have to be the one to live with that decision.

Marvin said he could never walk around begrudging healthy people their "spare" kidney -- even if that kidney could extend and improve his own life.  "If they don't want to give it to me freely and of their own volition, I don't want it," he said.  "If I have to force them or brow-beat them into giving it to me, it's really not 'the GIFT of life.'"

[annabanana]

Most people are probably terrified to go into surgery. ANY type of surgery....It was a scary idea for me until Randy's surgery. But most people don't know that this surgery is simple and safe, etc. I think any kind of awareness program should deal with these issues. Giving a kidney should be considered in the same way as giving blood. It should be "standard"...and we should be taught early on about it.   

[migaguiar]

I'm sorry but very few reasons are legit as to why people cant give a kidney.
My mother has borderline high BP so she cant donate. My father gave me my first one.
I have no brother or sisters but plenty of cousins.

There has even been 2 high profile athletes (NBA Basketball) who had transplants and returned to play.
So ignorance and lack understanding is a bad excuse. The younger generation are exposed to so much now.
TV over 200 channels. The Web has countless info.

I think family value , which i believe isnt very strong here, could be a problem.
I wonder what is the donation rate for countries that hold family above fame, material and wealth is?

[annabanana]

I firmly disagree that ignorance and lack of understanding is a bad excuse. It is a normal condition (not excuse) for most people about certain things in life. You, for example, have not been exposed to a lot of my personal situations and would have no idea what to do about them if asked. You would have to be taught. It's my stand that people should be taught, and the only way to do that is to get them to listen in the first place. Knowledge is power, in every circumstance, including the details about organ donation, and how to make it a subject that families include in their value system.

[Sunny]

Oh come on!
In today's day and age almost everybody knows about donation.
If you were to conduct a poll, I would bet my corneas most people are aware of donation.
They just don't want to donate. If it doesn't touch them personally, they either don't care or can't donate.
But I'm not buying this idea people don't know.

[monrein]

Playing a little devil's advocate but here goes you guys.  I've always felt a little guilty about not offering to be a bone marrow donor (don't know if they'd accept me because of my own health issues) but I just don't want to go through any more than I already do.  I'm very tolerant of pain but think I've had enough in my life and I'm not done yet.  Does this make me selfish?  However I will say that if anyone in my family needed that I'd do whatever it took.    I do have sympathy for people who are scared of surgery and lots of folks have never had so much as an IV so they're totally freaked.
Now I DO NOT at all understand why someone would refuse to sign a donor card for when they're dead and I kind of agree with a reverse onus type of system, whereby you sign a card if you have strong objections to your organs being taken but if you don't do that then they're automatically harvested.  I'm not sure about the idea of selling organs.  Too many possibilities for abuses I worry.

[flip]

I agree with Sunny...I'm sure most people know but just don't want to. I have two brothers, a son, and a daughter. All are healthy and none of them have even offered a kidney to me.

[stauffenberg]

Nothing is yours if your keeping it when I need it makes no real difference to your health but will kill me if I don't get it.  If the military can draft people and put them at risk of life and limb to save the whole community, then why can't individuals be drafted to give their organs to save the lives of the dialysis community?

The whole concept of what is 'yours' and what is 'mine' is always modified to take account of special circumstances.  If the government needs 'your private property' for a military base which cannot go anywhere it, what is 'yours' will be sezied by eminent domain.  If the government's social policies have to take away some of your money in taxation to help the poor, suddenly 'your' money is no longer yours anymore.  Normally, it is your private right to go where you like, but if you find yourself in an area affected by a highly contagious, serious disease, the government can put you under quaranteen and take away 'your' right to go where you please in the interest of the common good.  The same rule should hold for kidneys: where people are dying because of a lack of them, what used to be private property no longer is, at least until the desperate need of the dying has been met.

[migaguiar]

wow, stauffenberg. Are you saying like a kidney draft?
I never thought of it like that.

Id rather have people volunteer than force it from them. So, i will probably be back to square 1 from the lack of volunteers.

I have thought of homeless people and prisoners donating.
Homeless people could be put into a program that helps them get back into being productive members of society after donating.

And prisoners who are in for life could get extra "privileges" for donating.

Theses are just my opinion's and im just throwing them out. I havent thought out the entire ramafications of said ideas. I felt i was kinda bashed and my opinion was taken a little to personal on earler reply.

[stauffenberg]

It has been the practice for many years to give prisoners some remission of sentence if they volunteer to test potentially dangerous new medicines, such as was done with prisoners in the US who, in 1942, volunteered to test a new malaria vaccine.  So it seems a good first step to give prisoners the option of having some time reduced from their sentence for volunteering to donate a kidney.

[monrein]

Hey migaguiar,  I don't think anyone was intending to bash you at all.  Sometimes misunderstandings happen easily here only because it's not like a real conversation with give and take and clarification as we go along.  Someone posts, then that triggers a thought or an idea in someone else who then says what they think.  I read back but am not sure what made you feel bashed.  The main thing is we all have different ideas and we can share them here, hopefully in a respectful way.  Keep on posting, and disagreeing or whatever it is you want/need to do. 

I don't like the idea of a body part draft, even though I could potentially benefit.  I just believe that organ donation is a matter of education and the offer needs to be freely made and freely given.  I celebrate all the amazing people who have done just that even if I am not directly affected.  They often tell other people how much the act of giving has enriched their lives and they can inspire others to do the same. 

[migaguiar]

 i took an Interpersonal Communication class in college and learned when you use the word "you" in discussions or arguments you make it more personal.
It makes an arguement cleaner if the person is taken out (the word you) and the discussion is about the situation therefore making it inpersonal.

Anyways, i dont want to get all fancy pants because i cant!

Stauff, your really bringing up some good stuff. 

[xtrememoosetrax]

Oh, interesting.  I went back and read the response to your post AGAIN and found that I had interpreted the word "you" as more of a "rhetorical you"; that is, I took "you" to be an abstract second person rather than YOU, migaguiar, personally.  Interesting how we each read and interpret things a little differently.  That's why it's important to try (as hard as it can be sometimes) to not take what people say too personally.