Blog #4 New Kidney Donation System Could Change Who Gets Best Organs

Today, the UNOS, or the United Network for Organ Sharing announced earlier today that the usual procedures for organ donning, first come first serve, will now be replaced with a procedure which will first evaluate the health of the recipient.  This would mean that the best organs would be given to the individuals who will be able to use them the longest and live taking care of them.  Many people see this as a discriminatory way of deciding who is worthy of receiving the organ.  Lets think of it this way, a healthy young child could receive a healthy kidney which would sustain this child for the rest of their life, or they could receive a weak kidney, which fails them and then they are once again in line for another kidney.  We could also take an aged adult for example, who gets a healthy kidney, but due to their habits, have to receive a second or even third kidney transplant because their bodies won't accept even the healthiest ones.  Human Rights comes into play here because we are deciding which dying individuals has the advantage over the others.  Harsh way to put it, yes, but this is exactly what is occurring here.  People and the organs are to be evaluated and given "scores" where they will be matched accordingly.  So potentially we have a problem here due to the extreme demand for organs, and the supply which cannot possibly keep up.  The more healthy children which are added to the list for a donor, the further back on the list the others who are not so young, and not so healthy go.  Many people could be on the list for a very long time and potentially die because others are being put before them in comparison.  This is discrimination at it's finest.  Young, old, skinny, large, short, tall, we as a community don't even get a say-so in which of these potential recipients will get the organs we, ourselves are donating.  People become organ donors every day, and I believe we should get a vote on this matter.




http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/09/21/new-kidney-donation-system-could-change-who-gets-best-organs/