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Hot Topics in Transplant Ethics
For Transplant News, Follow Me on Twitter @AskTheEthicist (click image)
 
 

YouTube Video from Italy
("Every Day, With the Help of

Everybody, We Transplant a Little
Happiness Into Our Patients")

Watch the video and smile.  The Kidney Transplant Team at Dipartimento di
patologia renale e trapianto di rene dell'ospedale Brotzu di Cagliari (Sardinia,
Italy) will brighten your day.

New liver regeneration technology
New technology for patients with liver disease to grow their own liver tissue (self-donation) is on the horizon.  Read about it here: http://www.wysszurich.uzh.ch/projects/wyss-zurich-projects/liver4life/


Big Data can be helpful in the context   of transplantation
March 2017: New research shows that a Big Data approach significantly adds efficacy to graft loss and mortality prediction models and is medical record deployable to optimize outcomes. https://t.co/G6peVjTc0U

Could Personalized Medicine be the answer to the risks of immunosupression?
April 2017: Clinical trial for personalized cell-based immunotherapy called MDR-101 that is designed to switch off the immune response to donated and transplanted organs. http://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/medeor-gets-fda-ok-to-trial-therapy-aims-to-do-away-transplant-drugs


Allowing families to veto registered consent is Ethically Inappropriate
Explore the ethical problems with failing to honor registered organ donation consents: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/imj.12029/abstract


Why so few Living Donations to Strangers in Australia?

There are very few Good Samaritan donations in Australia each year, but why?  It seems the practice is virtually silent in the community.  Read the research study for details: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23383858


Face Transplants for blind patients?
2017: Research report here, http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1526924816679841?journalCode=pitb

Hand Transplants for children? What do transplant team members think?
2017: New research here, http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1526924816679837


Is it possible to register as a hand or face transplant donor?
2017: Research explains how here, http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1526924816664080

83yr old Donates Kidney to Stranger
in
UK
May 2012, read the story here: http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2012-05-17/nicholas-crace-oldest-living-kidney-donor/

Facebook Facilitates Organ Donor Registration (But Australia Still Allows Families to Override These Registrations)
May 2012, read the story here: http://www.qutnews.com/2012/05/02/facebook-feature-encourages-organ-donation/


New York Man Convicted of Selling
Kidneys as a Broker [Trafficking]
October 2011, Read the full story here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/28/nyregion/guilty-plea-to-kidney-selling-charges.html?_r=1


Teen Sells Kidney to Buy iPad

June 2011: 17 yr old boy in China is too poor to buy an iPad so he sells his kidney
via an Internet broker, having the surgery at a non-transplant hospital.   He was
paid $3000 and regrets the shoddy surgical experience.
  http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/06/02/boy-sells-kidney-to-buy-ipad/


Transplant Patient Kills Surgeon Who
Saved His Life

May 2011: A man in Florida (USA) who had recieved a kidney and liver transplant stalked his surgeon and killed him in the hospital's parking lot. 
Why would someone kill the person who saved his life (twice)? Do transplant
teams need extra protection from disgruntled patients? How can these patients
be identified?
   

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1392772/Transplant-patient-Nelson-Flecha-shot-dead-surgeon-saved-life.html


Popes Not Allowed to be Organ Donors
 
 
Feb 2011: Apparently first person consent does not apply in Vatican City.  If a
pope registers to be an organ donor, his organs will NOT be donated to needy patients when he dies.
 
http://www.smh.com.au/world/transplant-ban-on-papal-organs-20110205-1ahnx.html?from=smh_sb


Patient Dies After Face Transplant 

Feb 2011: Several face transplants have been done in France.  Due to immunosuppression, post-transplant infection is always a risk.  This article
describes several cases and indicates one patient died from an infection two
months after transplant.  For those who survived, the cosmetic results are very
good. 
Read the full article at Lantieri L. et al, Amer Journal of Transplantation 2011;11: 367–78


Wife Forced to Sell Kidney to Pay for a Used Tractor

You think the headline is bad.  The story gets even worse.  She didn't even know
her kidney had been removed until she went to the doctor for medical care and it
was disclosed to her.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1544546/Man-sold-wifes-kidney-to-buy-tractor.html


Man Desires to Sell His Son and Daughter to Pay for His Kidney Transplant

Has morality just gone out the window?
 
http://www.chinahush.com/2010/07/11/man-selling-his-children-to-pay-for-kidney-transplant/


UK Man Who Tried to Sell His Kidney on the Internet to Pay his Debts is Convicted and Sentenced

This is the first conviction of its kind in the UK (for violating the Human Tissue Act).  The 26 year old received a 12-month suspended prison sentence. 
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Sky-News-Archive/Article/200806413583913


Man Convicted in Singapore for Attempting to Sell His Kidney

Similar story as above, a 26 year old male, arrested before the donor surgery took place.  He admitted his intent to sell one of his kidneys. 
http://www.aussiepete.com/2008/06/need-cash-fast-why-not-sell-kidney-on.html


Transplant Tourism - a Dangerous Journey?

Polcari AJ, Hugen CM, Farooq AV, Holt DR, Hou SH, Milner JE. 

Clin Transplant 2011 Jul-Aug;25(4):633-7

Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine, Maywood, IL, USA.

Abstract

Introduction:  While the ethical aspects of transplant tourism have received much attention recently, less has been written about the medical safety of this practice. We retrospectively evaluated the outcomes of patients who purchased organs internationally and presented to our center for follow-up care. Methods:  Baseline demographic characteristics were recorded. Post-operative outcomes including patient survival, graft survival, five-yr graft function, and complications were assessed. Results:  Eight patients who purchased international organs for transplant were identified. The country of transplant was China (n=3), Pakistan (n=3), India (n=1), and the Philippines (n=1). All patients were born in either Asia or the Middle East and traveled to the region of their ethnicity for transplantation. The mean time to presentation was 49d post-operatively. The overall one- and two-yr patient survival rates were 87% and 75%, respectively. One patient died of miliary tuberculosis and another of Acinetobacter baumanii sepsis. There was one case of newly acquired hepatitis B infection. At last follow-up, all six surviving patients had functioning grafts with a mean creatinine level of 1.26mg/dL at five yr. Conclusion:  Although intermediate-term graft function is acceptable, the early morbidity and mortality among transplant tourists is high. These results suggest that the associated risks may not justify the trip.




This is Professor Bramstedt's personal web site and the views expressed are her own.  The site is not sponsored or supported by Bond University, Roche, or her clients. The purpose of this web site is educational. Professor Bramstedt will NOT provide medical advice to anyone.  You should consult a health care provider in all matters relating to your health, and particularly with respect to any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical attention. Any action on your part in response to the information provided in this web site is at the reader's discretion. Readers should consult their own health care provider concerning the information on this web site. Polls on this website are opinion polls, NOT research studies. IMAGES ON THIS WEBSITE: Life Preserver - Pixabay CCO.  Australian Organ Donor Card -- Katrina Bramstedt 2012 CCO.  All others: no copyright infringement intended.

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