THE ORGAN TRANSPLANT PROGRAM NEEDS FIXING

THE KUHNS REPORT


LAS VEGAS - Hello America, and how is the world treating you?

 Is the organ transplant program fixed and corrupted? To a degree, I think so.

 A 10-year old girl, Sarah Murnaghan who suffers from Cystic Fibrosis went to the media and pleaded for a lung transplant for the child. Lo and behold, like magic, the girl jumped to the top of the list and received a lung transplant. A judge interceded in the organ/transplant debate and said the girl could receive an adult organ. Now, again, just recently the same child received a trachea.

True ,the girl needed the lung but she was not first on the list to receive the organ. Anther question i have  about this transplant is: Was Sarah the sickest child on the list waiting for a transplant?

I am not begrudging the child  the lung but I have serious concerns about the organ donor process being turned into a popularity contest as to who screams and squeals the loudest will receive an organ. In this case it looks like the  the squeaky wheel got the grease.

I think the organ transplant system needs an overhaul. The executive committee seemed to buckle under media scrutiny and provide an organ for the young girl. The National organ list is said to be fair, but is it? Really? It purports to move a person up on the list based only on "medical need." The  committee says it takes into consideration one's medical criteria, blood type, height, weight and time spent waiting for the organ.

However over the years the public has seen well known celebrities receive liver, lung, kidney and heart transplants who clearly were not waiting as long as others on the National waiting list. The transplant committee says the rich and famous have to wait to. I don't believe that for a second. Just based on the publicity of the number of celebrities and well known personalities who have received organs over the last few decades it seems to me that the committee members who decide where the organ is to go considers  financial, political, social and celebrity status.

I think what would be fair is to allow anyone to buy an organ and the donor allowed to accept payment for that organ. Lets look at what's happening now - -The Hospital gets paid, the doctors and medical staff are getting paid to perform the operation, organ transport people are getting paid - - basically everyone involved in the organ transplant procedure gets paid very generously EXCEPT the donor.

I submit that if a person has the  means to pay for an organ and there is a donor and/or a donor's family that wants to enter into a  financial agreement for an organ  - - let it go forward. Why should everyone else involved in the organ transplant procedure make a salary and/or profit from it and a donor or their family cannot receive compensation? I think that would be a more fair solution than having a few bureaucrats or a committee either from the government or private sector telling a possible organ recipient and donor who gets a specific organ. If a recipient finds a donor match and is willing to pay for the organ, why not? - And, that's my opinion. Make your own decisions. You decide.

Bradley W. Kuhns, Ph.D., O.M.D.
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Dr. Kuhns can be reached by email at:
bradleykuhns@gmail.com