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kidney donation
Jul. 13th, 2009 07:27 amVery interesting article in The Atlantic on kidney donations.
Around a hundred thousand people in this country need a kidney transplant. One or two hundred million people in this country have a spare kidney that they could donate - living with only one kidney does not signficantly affect one's health. The surgery offers quick recovery but is not completely without risk - about three in ten thousand donors die.
The status quo is that a few potential recipients are lucky and have a close friend or family member who is a blood type and antigen match and is willing to donate; some potential recipients eventually receive a kidney from a deceased donor, which is not as effective, after a very long wait; and the vast majority of potential recipients go without, relying on expensive and less-effective dialysis to survive as long as they can.
Obviously the status quo sucks. If we were maximizing collective good, we'd have a lot more living donors. But how do you get from A to B? It's a fascinating question of both economics and ethics.
Around a hundred thousand people in this country need a kidney transplant. One or two hundred million people in this country have a spare kidney that they could donate - living with only one kidney does not signficantly affect one's health. The surgery offers quick recovery but is not completely without risk - about three in ten thousand donors die.
The status quo is that a few potential recipients are lucky and have a close friend or family member who is a blood type and antigen match and is willing to donate; some potential recipients eventually receive a kidney from a deceased donor, which is not as effective, after a very long wait; and the vast majority of potential recipients go without, relying on expensive and less-effective dialysis to survive as long as they can.
Obviously the status quo sucks. If we were maximizing collective good, we'd have a lot more living donors. But how do you get from A to B? It's a fascinating question of both economics and ethics.
