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Tuesday, November 12, 2002"We're losing 6,000 lives a year, more than twice the number killed in the 9/11 attacks," notes Professor Kaserman. "And if we were paying for the organs, federal expenditures would go down. So we're actually spending money to kill people." Well, people don't just get transplants and walk away healthy and happy ever after. They have to take medication that has its own set of complications, and they are always at risk for transplant rejection. It's hardly a panacea. Especially when you consider that a lot of the original kidneys had to be replaced because of systemic disease that's still present - high blood pressure and diabetes for example. This means that the new kidneys are at risk for the same damage that the old ones sustained. Their medical bills don't disappear after the transplant, and neither does their risk of death. Dialysis isn't "killing people", their diseases are. Dialysis only delays the inevitable; as does, in many cases these days, renal transplant. Over 50% of people on dialysis are over the age of 65. Their kidney disease is due to chronic illness. To encourage young, healthy people to sell their kidneys to the old and diseased is morally bankrupt. It subjects healthy people to the hazards of surgery merely for the hope of economic gain. It doesn't even confer any economic advantage, according to a recent paper in JAMA that surveyed kidney for cash donors in India: Ninety-six percent of participants sold their kidneys to pay off debts. The average amount received was $1070. Most of the money received was spent on debts, food, and clothing. Average family income declined by one third after nephrectomy (P<.001), and the number of participants living below the poverty line increased. Three fourths of participants were still in debt at the time of the survey. About 86% of participants reported a deterioration in their health status after nephrectomy. Seventy-nine percent would not recommend that others sell a kidney. Which is why we should thank God that economists don't run the world. posted by Sydney on 11/12/2002 08:01:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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